José Manuel Silva has been sentenced to 28 days in prison after being convicted of racially and religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm, distress and criminal damage for shouting antisemitic abuse in Golders Green in London. Mr Silva, who pleaded guilty, has also been ordered to pay costs of £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and has been fined £165.

Mr Silva’s abuse reportedly included shouting “burn” and pointing at Jewish passersby, including children, on 24th August on the corner of Hoop Lane and Finchley Road in Golders Green. He was detained by CST until the Metropolitan Police Service arrived to arrest him.

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends CST for its swift response and thanks the police and the CPS for ensuring that Mr Silva has suffered the consequences of his antisemitic abuse.

The Labour Party Conference later this month is reportedly due to include a session labelling the Labour Party’s chronic antisemitism scandal as a “witch hunt”.

According to political blog, Guido Fawkes, the session will be entitled “Free speech on Israel – why we oppose the witch hunt” and will be chaired by the notorious Vice Chair of the Chingford branch of the Chingford and Woodford Green Constituency Labour Party, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi.

Ms Wimborne-Idrissi denies that the Labour Party has an antisemitism problem and has even previously taken to the airwaves to say that Israel has “inflicted” the Holocaust on other people and “they use and exploit” the Holocaust for political ends. In October last year she told LBC: “When it comes to the Holocaust, of course, there must never be any minimisation of that horror. It’s inflicted on other people in the sense that apologists for Israel use the suffering of Jews to excuse the suffering of Palestinians. I hear it all the time: ‘Oh, they’ve suffered so much, let them get on with it.’ I’m not saying that Israel is committing a Holocaust. I’m saying they use and exploit the fact of the Holocaust to justify what are, in some cases, crimes against humanity…So the mass slaughter of Jews in Europe should never be inflicted on others. That’s my view and that includes Palestinians. But for that, I’m called a self-hating Jew.”

The comments came after Ms Wimborne-Idrissi told the radio station that a Jewish MP had staged an antisemitic incident in order to undermine Jeremy Corbyn. Listening in the studio, Labour MP Alison McGovern became visibly emotional, holding back tears, as Ms Wimborne-Idrissi alleged that Ruth Smeeth, a Jewish Labour MP, had used an antisemitic incident to “completely undermine the launch of a really important report about racism”, referring to Baroness Chakrabarti’s whitewash report into antisemitism in the Labour Party. Ms Wimborne-Idrissi said that Ms Smeeth was clearly motivated to concoct the incident because she “is against Corbyn, against his whole Socialist vision”. Continuing, Ms Wimborne-Idrissi claimed that the Jewish MP’s supposed ruse had worked: “Did anybody know about racism after the release of that report? No they didn’t. All they knew was that an angry Jewish MP had run out of the room. That’s all they knew…The Chakrabarti Commission has been undermined at every turn by people like Ruth Smeeth and Louise Ellman [another Jewish Labour MP] and others like them who have a political agenda. The question of antisemitism is being used as a weapon in a political battle.”

Last year’s Labour Party Conference was awash with antisemitic incidents, and sadly we see nothing to suggest that this year will be any different.

A convicted neo-Nazi has had his four-year sentence slashed by the Court of Appeal, after judges branded his original sentence “manifestly excessive”.

Lawrence Burns was sentenced to four years in prison in March by a judge at Peterborough Crown Court after being convicted of two counts of incitement to racial hatred over his antisemitic Facebook posts and a speech on YouTube last year. In December 2016, Mr Burns was also found guilty of two charges of publishing threatening, abusive or insulting written material with intent or likely intent to stir up racial hatred by a jury at Cambridge Crown Court.

In one video, Mr Burns accused Jews of being “parasites” that wanted to create a “mongrelised race”. In one of his many social media posts, Burns compared Jews to “maggots in a decaying body” who are “hijacking the genes of a superior white race”. The court heard that Mr Burns had posted 140 comments comments in which he stirred up racial hatred on an alias Facebook account he had set up.

According to one report, a search of Mr Burns’ home revealed a number of antisemitic books, a scarf with a “neo-Nazi” logo and a phone containing a further 125 photos depicting racist views, along with three audio recordings made by Mr Burns, where he is alleged to have said a “real Holocaust” is the only solution to “ridding the Jews”.

Mr Justice Phillips, sitting with Lord Justice Davis and Mr Justice Garnham, said Mr Burns’ utterances had strayed “far beyond what is regarded as acceptable in this society” and were intended to “promote racial hatred”, but that Mr Burns’ four-year sentence was “manifestly excessive”.

The judges slashed Mr Burns’ sentence to two-and-a-half years on account of the fact that he was only 20 and 21 when he committed the offences, and because he was of “low intellect”, stating that they made the decision due to his “young age” and “poor educational background”.

Mr Burns’ lawyer, Adrian Davies, also told the court that Mr Burns’ 98 Facebook friends had much more extreme views than Mr Burns, and that should be taken into account, because their views were so extreme that they made Mr Burns “seem moderate”.

Mr Burns was disappointed in his ambition to completely overturn his conviction.

Campaign Against Antisemitism deplores the message sent by the court, that a dedicated adult neo-Nazi who embraced a genocidal ideology should be granted clemency. Mr Burns was not a child. He wilfully and prolifically engaged in the most vile incitement to commit acts of violence against Jews and black people.

You may wish to write to your MP using the simple form at writetothem.com, asking them to draw your concerns to the attention of the Attorney General, The Rt Hon. Jeremy Wright QC MP, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, The Rt Hon. David Lidington MP, and the President of the Sentencing Council, The Rt Hon. Lord Thomas, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

Chelsea Football Club faces action from the Football Association following its supporters’ latest antisemitic song. The club’s fans have a long history of singing and chanting the most disgusting antisemitic lyrics, but only rarely have fans been prosecuted.

The latest antisemitic song to ring out from the Chelsea supporters’ section came on Saturday, when the club’s new player, Álvaro Morata, scored a goal. In celebration, numerous Chelsea supporters were reported to have sang: “Álvaro, oh, Álvaro, oh. He came from Real Madrid, he hates the f***ing Yids.”

“Yid” is a Yiddish word sometimes appropriated by antisemites as a repulsive derogatory term for Jews on a par with slave-trade era terms to describe black people. It is often and brazenly used by Chelsea supporters as a means of deriding rival team Tottenham Hotspur, amongst whose supporters Chelseas fans believe that there are many Jews.

Both Chelsea Football Club and Álvaro Morata swiftly spoke out. Chelsea issued a statement saying that “The club and the players appreciate the fans’ passionate support away from home, but the language in that song is not acceptable at all. We have spoken to Álvaro after the game, he does not want to be connected with that song in any way. Both the club and the player request the supporters stop singing that song with immediate effect.” Mr Morata tweeted: “Since I arrived, I have been able to feel your support every single day, you are amazing and I’d like to ask you to please respect everyone!”

Due to the repeated brazen singing of antisemitic songs by Chelsea fans, statements are no longer enough. Whilst we welcome the club’s swift condemnation of this repulsive singing, Chelsea must now either identify and the punish fans who participated, or the club itself should face strict penalties from the Football Association to send a clear message to its fans.

Since I arrived, I have been able to feel your support every single day, you are amazing and I'd like to ask you to please respect everyone!

Richard Gary Reed from Ipswich has reportedly been convicted of religiously-aggravated harassment and fined £300 after pleading guilty to shouting “I’m going to kill you f***ing Jews, I know where you are” and making gun gestures at a recognisably Jewish man who had entered a pub in Suffolk with friends on 5th August.

The landlady called the police, who arrested Reed at the scene. He pleaded guilty at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court late last month and has now been ordered to pay a £300 fine, as well as court costs 0f £85, a victim surcharge of £30 and compensation of £100.

The victim, who asked to remain anonymous told the Jewish News: “I was shocked that this antisemitic abuse happened whilst I was out in the country, I didn’t expect this type of threatening behaviour.” CST provided victim support.

Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes the firm response by the police, the prosecution and the court.

Four members of the British Army have been arrested by specialist counter-terrorism police on suspicion of being members of National Action, a violent far-right terrorist organisation.

The men, aged 22, 24, 24 and 32, from Birmingham, Northampton, Ipswich, Birmingham and Powys, are all now in police custody. The Ministry of Defence has confirmed the arrests and that civilian police are leading the investigation.

The arrests were carried out by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit in conjunction with the Wales Extremism Counter Terrorism Unit and the East Midlands Counter Terrorism Intelligence Unit.

National Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in December 2016 following a long campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others. Under section 11 of the Terrorism Act 2000, membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation is a criminal offence.

While returning to his home at approximately 03:30 on 2nd September, a 14-year-old boy became aware of shouts of “Jew, Jew” being directed at him by a man on a bicycle. He bravely confronted the man who repeatedly asked him: “What do you have?” The man then asked “Do you have a knife?” at which point the boy ran home. The incident was witnessed from the house by his mother, who told us that it left her feeling scared and worried that the streets are not as safe as she had believed.

The victim described the man as having a beard and a big double chin, and wearing a heavy jacket and trousers. The incident occured in Holmleigh Road and has now been reported to the police by the victim’s mother.

If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact the police by dialing 101.

Stamford Hill Shomrim provided support to the victim and then referred the incident to Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, a former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and current Imam of the city’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, who allegedly denied that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, is reportedly scheduled to visit Britain from 11th-15th September as part of a delegation organised by the pro-Palestinian group EuroPal. It is reported that he will also meet with MPs in Parliament.

Sabri has a history of making antisemitic statements. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Sabri denied the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust, telling Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, in 2000: “Six million Jews dead? No way, they were much fewer. Let’s stop with this fairytale exploited by Israel to capture international solidarity.” Under the International Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the UK Government, “Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust)” is antisemitic.

Furthermore, Sabri reportedly said in a New York Times Magazine interview in 2000 that “If the Jews want peace, they will stay away from Al Aksa…This is a decree from Allah. The Haram al-Sharif belongs to the Muslim. But we know the Jew is planning on destroying the Haram. The Jew will get the Christian to do his work for him. This is the way of the Jews. This is the way Satan manifests himself. The majority of the Jews want to destroy the mosque. They are preparing this as we speak.” Under the the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.

Also according to MEMRI, Sabri said in an interview with the Egyptian weekly, Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, in 2000 that “I enter the mosque of Al-Aqsa with my head up and at the same time I am filled with rage toward the Jews. I have never greeted a Jew when I came near one. I never will. They cannot even dream that I will. The Jews do not dare to bother me, because they are the most cowardly creatures Allah has ever created…”

In 2012, Sabri was reportedly banned by the French Government from entering France.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has asked the Home Office to follow suit and ban Sabri from entering the UK and speaking to MPs in Parliament.

We encourage you to add your voice by contacting your local MP using the simple form at writetothem.com.

We would like to thank the individuals and organisations which brought this matter to our attention.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chairman, Gideon Falter, has this week written articles in the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish News and Jewish Telegraph, explaining the results of our Antisemitism Barometer research, which were misrepresented by some who claimed that we were expecting almost a third of the UK’s 269,000 Jews to leave the country imminently. If you would like to voice your support for CAA’s work, please feel free to e-mail letters@thejc.com, letters@thejngroup.com or letters@jewishtelegraph.com, making sure that you include your postal address (indicating that you would prefer that it is not published).

We must resist the seduction of both complacency and fear

I have never understood why some people get used to antisemitism. There are people in our community who see nothing disturbing about dropping their children off at fortified schools, or passing through airport-style security to enter their synagogue. As antisemitic crime surges, they look perplexed and observe that nothing feels different to them because nothing has happened to them personally. They accept the risk of antisemitism as part of their everyday life, but fail to act as long as they themselves are not targeted.

Our charity seeks to educate against antisemitism whilst simultaneously working to inflict criminal, professional and reputational sanctions upon antisemites. To succeed, we must pinpoint the problem, and that is why the accuracy of our research is crucial: if it contains mistakes, we could find ourselves fighting the wrong battles.

Last week, Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) published our Antisemitism Barometer research. Conducted over three years, it included three specially-commissioned YouGov polls of the British population’s attitudes towards Jews, and two separate CAA polls of British Jews, the data from which was weighted by a former Associate Director at YouGov. Our rigorous research showed that antisemitic prejudice was actually declining, but that British Jews were becoming increasingly fearful with almost one in three having asked themselves whether to leave the UK. They do not need to be packing their bags for the question to be significant. When our polling asked British Jews to point a finger of blame, more than half accused the Crown Prosecution Service for failing to prosecute all but a handful of antisemitic crimes annually, and the Labour Party was attacked by 4 in 5 of us for its newfound mastery of the art of whitewashing antisemitism.

Just when we should be celebrating a fall in prejudice against Jews, we find ourselves grappling with rising fear of surging antisemitic crime and the acceptance by swathes of the electorate of a political party riddled with antisemites. Our findings sparked national debate, but the communal debate was no less interesting because of the divisions that it exposed.

Some complained that they had never been a victim of antisemitism, and so it could not possibly be true, accusing us of exaggeration. Others accused us of somehow suppressing the voices of those who are making plans to leave.

Perhaps in this world of social media bubbles and fake news, we are all losing the ability to listen to the views of others. British Jews’ experiences will vary according to their denomination and whether they wear visible signs of their Judaism. They vary by neighbourhood, age, and gender. Those with children may feel differently about the future to those without. As a community, we must accept these variations and try to understand the whole picture, not just our personal part of it.

The facts are in our research and we neither played them up nor down. They tell us that Britain is one of the best places in the world in which to be Jewish, but we can also see that our comfort in this country is increasingly at risk. There is no contradiction in recognising how lucky we are, whilst fighting the threats that assail us. Our research tells us that however satisfied we may be with our laws and the majority of our politicians, it is imperative that we focus our attention on the failures to prosecute, and antisemitism in the Labour Party. Future generations will not forgive us if we enjoyed the golden era for British Jews but watched complacently as it ended.

Our dedication to ensuring CAA hate stats add up

In last week’s JC, sociology researcher Keith Kahn-Harris welcomed Campaign Against Antisemitism’s latest research into antisemitism in the UK, and British Jews’ responses to it, but he raised questions about our charity’s approach to the answers which I am happy to answer.

Our Antisemitism Barometer research is the product of three years’ work. We undertook five polls and analysed 10,567 responses. We commissioned leading pollsters YouGov to survey attitudes towards Jews amongst British people in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Separately, we worked with partners in the Jewish community to poll British Jews’ responses to antisemitism in 2016 and 2017, hiring a former Associate Director at YouGov to ensure that our results accurately represented the national Jewish community. As Dr Kahn-Harris recognised, “The report’s findings need to be considered seriously.”

Our charity seeks to educate against antisemitism whilst simultaneously working to inflict criminal, professional and reputational sanctions upon antisemites. To succeed, we must pinpoint the problem, and that is why the accuracy of our research is crucial: if it contains mistakes, we could find ourselves fighting the wrong battles.

We found that British people are becoming less antisemitic. Today, 36% hold at least one antisemitic prejudice, compared with 45% in 2015. Only 54% say that they have ever met a Jew. We pinpointed the worst regions, age groups, political persuasions and more. Amongst Jews, we found that in the past two years, nearly one in three has considered moving abroad due to antisemitism. That does not mean they are busy packing their suitcases, but Jews are asking themselves alarming questions about their future here, and that is significant. 39% of us are concealing our religion in public. 64% of us think the authorities do too little to punish antisemitism, and 52% think that the Crown Prosecution Service does too little. 76% say political developments have caused more antisemitism and 83% say Labour is harbouring antisemites. We use this information to target our work, including drawing up recommendations that we are discussing with the Government.

Dr Kahn-Harris asks questions about our research, focusing on the speed of our analysis and what he called our lack of “collegiality”. He might just as well have asked us by e-mail as in a newspaper column.

It is hard to characterise a three-year study as hasty. Rather than being disconcerted by the speed of our analysis, he should understand that Campaign Against Antisemitism operates like a startup. Instead of salaried 9-5 functionaries, we are powered by dedicated unpaid volunteers working all hours when needed. By the time we had concluded our 2017 polling, we had already built the data models to analyse it and discussed previous years’ findings. All that remained was to analyse the latest results, and how they compared to what we had found previously.

I suspect that Dr Kahn-Harris most objects to what he perceives as our lack of “collegiality”. He explains that we are rarely to be seen at conferences or at communal symposia, and he blames us. The fact is that Campaign Against Antisemitism is excluded from the Jewish community’s cosy club of established bodies, but we will always be willing to collaborate constructively against antisemitism. Next time there is a conference, if he invites us, we will be delighted to come.

CAA polling was accurate and rigorous, but disturbing

The following article was published in the Jewish Telegraph.

Last week’s Jewish Telegraph led with a headline attacking a poll conducted by Campaign Against Antisemitism, claiming that it had been “panned” by “Jewish academics”. Readers would have had to turn to page 23 to find that out that was not the case.

In fact, none of the academics cited, or this paper itself, criticised the polling, and in any case, as specialists in history, politics and management, the academics asked to comment were hardly experts in statistics. They did not criticise the polling but did express dismay, even disbelief, that so many British Jews are now having second thoughts about their future in this country.

The journalism was uncharacteristically unfair. Most editors would not admit that, so I am grateful for this opportunity to set the record straight.

In five polls over three years, we asked what British people think about Jews, and what British Jews think about antisemitism. We asked expert pollsters, YouGov, to poll the British population’s attitudes towards Jews in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In separate polling, we worked with Jewish community bodies to poll a nationally representative sample of British Jews about antisemitism in 2016 and 2017, hiring a former Associate Director at YouGov to review our work. We analysed 10,567 responses over three years.

What we found was both harrowing and uplifting.

First, the good news: British people have begun to shun antisemitism. In 2015, YouGov found that 45% of British adults held at least one antisemitic stereotype, but that fell to 39% in 2016, and 36% in 2017. We can be grateful that antisemitism is falling in Britain even as it soars on the Continent. Of the one third of British people who hold some prejudice against Jews, there are degrees of severity, which our research helps us to pinpoint. We now know, for example, which regions we need to target, which age groups, and which supporters of political parties.

Now the bad news: British Jews are increasingly fearful, with almost 1 in 3 saying that they have considered leaving Britain in the past two years. Last week’s coverage absurdly suggested that we now expect a third of the UK’s 269,000 Jews to pack their bags. However, it is significant that British Jews are increasingly considering this option. Delving into the responses further, we find that 76% of British Jews say that political events caused antisemitism to rise, and 83% of us feel that the Labour Party is harbouring antisemites. 37% of us have been concealing our Judaism in public and merely 39% felt confident that an antisemitic crime against them would be prosecuted. 52% say the Crown Prosecution Service does too little. Our community is hugely concerned about Islamism, the far-left, and antisemitism disguised as discourse about Israel. Perhaps none of this is surprising, but it is important to know, and important to be able to demonstrate it to the Government.

Our research provides a roadmap that Campaign Against Antisemitism will use to fight antisemitism. Campaign Against Antisemitism is a charity that trains unpaid volunteers (including me) to work in highly-effective teams with backup from eminent lawyers to ensure that antisemites pay a crippling criminal, professional and reputational cost for their hatred. Simultaneously, we interrupt the flow of antisemitic ideology through highly-targeted outreach and education work. Anybody can join us in our fight against antisemitism by visiting www.antisemitism.uk/act.

Our rigorous research has shown that we are starting to turn the tide, but we still have a great deal to do.

Rabbi Hershel Gluck, the President of Stamford Hill Shomrim, a Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, has called on the authorities and the police to be more proactive against antisemitic crime, as the rate of incidents rises in the Stamford Hill area. Rabbi Gluck said: “It is a shocking phenomenon that this seems to be allowed to continue. There certainly seems to be a lack of positive action in dealing constructively with antisemitic hate crimes. I expect the authorities and the police to be much more proactive in bringing the perpetrators of these hate crimes to justice.”

The news comes as research by Campaign Against Antisemitism found that almost one in three British Jews have considered leaving the UK due to antisemitism. The study found that only 59% of British Jews feel welcome in the UK, and 17% feel unwelcome, and for the past two years, 37% of British Jews have been concealing their Judaism in public.

In the wake of a 45% surge in antisemitic crime since 2014, British Jews delivered a damning verdict on law enforcement in Britain. 64% felt that the authorities were not doing enough to address and punish antisemitism, and a mere 39% felt confident that antisemitic hate crimes against them would be prosecuted. For the first time, more than half of British Jews said that the CPS is doing too little to fight antisemitism, and almost half criticised the courts.

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends Rabbi Gluck for his firm call for the authorities to act against antisemitism. It is imperative that Jewish leaders continue to speak out against rising antisemitic crime and demand action. It is crucial that our world-renowned criminal justice system prosecutes antisemitic hatred before it is too late.

For some time, it has been undeniable that the Labour Party has lost its status as an anti-racist organisation. Following the Party’s failure to expel Ken Livingstone a full year after his statements claiming that Hitler supported Zionism, 107 of its MPs felt moved to sign a statement declaring: “We stand with the Jewish community and British society against this insidious racism. This was not done in our name and we will not allow it to go unchecked.” Nearly five months on, nothing has changed.

The handling of Ken Livingstone’s case is merely one item in a sad litany of incidents involving not just rank and file so-called ‘hard-left’ members of the party, but candidates and elected officers of the party, virtually all of which have been shown to be antisemitic under the terms of the International Definition of Antisemitism, adopted by the UK Government and accepted by the Labour Party. However, even when these incidents have (rarely) resulted in a disciplinary process, the cases and their outcomes have been obscured under the terms of the Chakrabarti report, a whitewash of antisemitism in Labour that supresses transparency.

What is more, these incidents have taken place against a backdrop of leading figures of the party, including Diane Abbott, Len McLuskey as well as Ken Livingstone, declaring that allegations of antisemitism in Labour constitute nothing more than a disingenuous political attack on the leadership of the Labour Party, despite Campaign Against Antisemitism, the Chief Rabbi and almost all of the other major organisations of the British Jewish community making clear their concerns that many of these incidents were indeed antisemitic.

This is a record that should leave any political party hanging its head in shame. Therefore for Chris Williamson, the MP for Derby North and Shadow Minister for Fire and Emergency Services, to assert in an interview with The Guardian that — with very few exceptions — controversies over Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of antisemitism within Labour were “proxy wars and bulls***” and the result of a “really dirty, low-down trick” seem astonishing.

Whereas the comments of Abbott and McLuskey imply that Jewish complaints of antisemitism are essentially disingenuous and politically motivated, Williamson has now couched that assertion in racist language, redolent of antisemitism. If we take them at face value, Jews’ complaints in this context are “dirty”, “low-down”, “bulls***” and “tricks”.

In addition, Mr Williamson invokes a ‘good Jew, bad Jew’ trope, claiming that “Many people in the Jewish community are appalled by what they see as the weaponisation of antisemitism for political ends” — in the teeth of contrary evidence that the Jewish community’s support for Labour has ebbed badly under its current leadership, and that our recent polling indicates alarm among UK Jews in relation to Labour antisemitism.

When criticised by Jewish groups, including the Jewish Labour Movement itself, Mr Williamson responded by saying: “I absolutely did not and never would blame the victims of antisemitism or any form or racism and bigotry. Antisemitism is utterly repugnant and a scourge on society, which is why I stand in absolute solidarity with anyone who is subjected to antisemitic abuse. The point I was trying to make is that accusations have on occasions been used for factional or party political ends.”

In doing so, Mr Williamson has disingenuously attempted to re-frame what he described as part of an “expected…onslaught” as a phenomenon that occurs only “on occasions”. He has failed to fundamentally address the evidence, the problems associated with Jeremy Corbyn’s past, and his own past problematic behaviour with regard to this issue, nor has he apologised for his own repugnant use of language. He has failed to explain how his comments are supposed to be interpreted with regard to those who point out that antisemitic incidents in the Labour Party are both widespread and abundantly evidenced under the terms of the International Definition of Antisemitism that his own party has accepted.

It is very hard to see how Mr Williamson stands “in absolute solidarity” with Jews subjected to antisemitic abuse, when he himself, as things stand, is characterising those in our community who complain of it as “dirty, low-down trick[sters]”.

We call on Mr Williamson to acknowledge the evidence that antisemitic incidents in the Labour Party are real, widespread and have not been dealt with adequately under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership; to apologise for his use of language and to publicly withdraw his comments.

Local residents in Leek, Staffordshire, have united in condemnation of a market stall in the town which has been displaying the Nazi flag. More than 35,000 people have already signed a petition calling for the flag to be removed from sale if it is a recently-manufactured replica, or removed from display if it is a genuine ‘antique’. According to the petition, the town’s mayor has known about the flag for a “long time” but has taken no action.

Whilst there are of course legitimate reasons to sell and purchase Nazi artefacts, for example for academic purposes, there are many cases in which the collection of Nazi ‘memorabilia’ is related to neo-Nazi beliefs. For example the murderer who killed Jo Cox MP had a collection of Nazi artefacts and a neo-Nazi teenager convicted of building a bomb to spark a “race war” was found to have a Nazi flag hanging in his bedroom.

Stamford Hill Shomrim has reported graffiti found freshly scrawled on the side door to a Jewish school to the Metropolitan Police Service. It is likely that whoever is responsible intended to target the graffiti at the school.

Anybody with information should contact the police by calling 101 and quoting reference number CAD6281/30/08/2017.

A man allegedly attacked and chased a group of teenage Jewish girls at approximately 18:50 today. The girls, who did not know the man, noticed him when he allegedly started shouting “Israel” at them, before hurling a bottle at them. As the bottle shattered and the girls ran for cover, he allegedly yelled after them: “Hitler is a good man, good he killed the Jews”. The suspect was not known to his alleged victims.

One of the victims’ mothers has reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police Service, and volunteers from Stamford Hill Shomrim are assisting the victims.

Anybody who witnessed the alleged incident should call the Metropolitan Police Service on 101, quoting reference CAD7138/27/08/2017.

Young Jewish girls ran for cover after being attacked with a glass bottle by a man shouting "Hitler is a good man, good he killed the Jews" pic.twitter.com/ExUIsqfbZT

Disgraced Baroness Tonge, who was twice suspended from the Liberal Democrats over allegations of antisemitism and eventually resigned as pressure mounted, has shared an antisemitic caricature on Facebook.

The caricature was part of an image which claimed to expose the “AIPAC Jewish lobby” through a quote supposedly from Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters. In the bottom-right corner of the image, an antisemitic caricature of a big-nosed Jew clasping his hands together can be seen. The caricature is commonly used by neo-Nazis and far-left extremists in antisemitic social media memes.

The original post, which Baroness Tonge shared, was posted by Saeed Sarwar, who commented on the image: “I’ve checked with 4 specialist friends in case anyone tries to suggest this is antisemitism. It’s actually bang on.”

Baroness Tonge has a long history of using inflammatory, and sometimes antisemitic, language. In 2003 she compared conditions in Gaza to those in the Warsaw Ghetto, for which she was criticised by the chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. The following year, during a spate of suicide bombings targeting Jews in Israel, she said that she “might just consider becoming [a suicide bomber] myself” if she was a Palestinian. After her comments were condemned as “completely unacceptable” by her own Party leader, Charles Kennedy, she told the BBC that suicide bombers’ actions are “appalling and loathsome”. Two years later in 2006, she told a fringe meeting at her Party conference: “The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the western world, its financial grips. I think they’ve probably got a grip on our Party.” Once again, her Party leader, then Sir Menzies Campbell, said that her comments had “clear antisemitic connotations”, but she was unapologetic.

In 2010, in response to an antisemitic blood libel alleging that Israeli soldiers providing aid in Haiti were secretly harvesting victims’ organs, Baroness Tonge suggested that Israel should conduct an inquiry to “clear the names of the team in Haiti”. The Party leader, who by then was Nick Clegg, called the comments “wrong, distasteful and provocative”, and removed her as the Party’s health spokesperson. In 2012, the situation worsened when Baroness Tonge told a group at Middlesex University: “Beware Israel. Israel is not going to be there forever in its present performance.” Party leader Nick Clegg challenged her to apologise or resign for her remarks, following which she resigned the Party whip.

In 2015, Campaign Against Antisemitism condemned Baroness Tonge for asking a written question in the House of Lords which held Jews collectively responsible for perceived wrongdoing by Israel by calling for “Jewish faith leaders in the United Kingdom [to] publicly to condemn settlement building by Israel and to make clear their support for universal human rights.” Last year, she used a speech in the House of Lords to again call on “Jewish faith leaders in the United Kingdom publicly to condemn settlement building by Israel”, for which we condemned her, however her Party refused to act. When we called on our supporters to complain to the Liberal Democrat Party, the Party bizarrely responded that they would investigate if they received complaints. We then confirmed that our complaint was already a complaint and heard nothing more. Meanwhile Baroness Tonge wrote a misleading letter to The Independent claiming that Campaign Against Antisemitism was in fact an organisation which secretly opposed organ donation.

She then hosted a meeting in the House of Lords at which attendees compared Israel to ISIS and suggested that Holocaust victims provoked their own genocide. She was suspended from the Liberal Democrat party pending investigation, following which she resigned from the Party, but she remains in the House of Lords. Subsequently, the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, declined to take action against Baroness Tonge.

In October last year, Baroness Tonge responded to a report on rising antisemitism by the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee with a letter in which she wrote: “It is difficult to believe that a 75% increase in antisemitism [the Committee] reports, have been committed by people who simply hate Jewish people for no reason. It is surely the case that these incidents are reflecting the disgust amongst the general public of the way the government of Israel treats Palestinians and manipulates the USA and ourselves to take no action against that country’s blatant disregard of International Law and the Geneva Conventions.” The failure to act led a Liberal Democrat former candidate to quit the Party. One member of the public reported the letter to Sussex Police.

In February, after Baroness Tonge called for Campaign Against Antisemitism to be deregistered as a charity, Parliamentarians rallied to support us in the media.

In May, Baroness Tonge shared and then deleted an image belittling the Holocaust by equating it with the situation in Gaza. The cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, had won second prize in one of Iran’s repulsive Holocaust denial cartoon competitions.

We consider that Baroness Tonge’s ongoing membership of the House of Lords and the medical profession are stains on both institutions.

Swastikas (drawn the wrong way around) and a star of David daubed on a wall at Sible Hedingham Recreation Ground in Essex have been removed by the Parish Council.

A parish council spokesman said: “Sible Hedingham Parish Council were horrified and upset with the graffiti that was painted on the brick shelter in the Recreation Ground. The Recreation Ground is a community facility that is well used by families who enjoy the play equipment and the open space. The graffiti was gone within 24 hours of the Parish Council finding out about it. The graffiti had to be painted over as no amount of scrubbing, graffiti remover or paint thinner worked. The Parish Council denounce the behaviour of those involved in the disgusting graffiti.”

The Halstead Gazettereported that CCTV is now being examined in the hope that the perpetrator can be identified.

Central Hall in Southampton and St Andrew’s Hall in Norwich have confirmed to Campaign Against Antisemitism that they have cancelled the bookings for shows by modern-day antisemitic hate preacher, David Icke, on 27th and 30th April 2018.

Campaign Against Antisemitism contacted them and other venues in the UK where Mr Icke is scheduled to perform in November this year and April next year.

Some venues have not yet cancelled their planned events with Mr Icke, including The Caves in Edinburgh on 13th November 2017, The Troxy in London on 15th November 2017, Athena in Leicester on 20th April 2018 and Komedia in Bath on 24th April 2018. Their contact details are below, should members of the public wish to politely add their voices to calls for the shows to be cancelled.

We alerted the venues that Mr Icke uses social media, his books and his stage performances to incite hatred towards Jewish people by repeating centuries-old libels, as well as conspiracy myths that were used by Nazi Germany to justify the Holocaust.

We explained that Mr Icke’s repertoire includes conspiracy myths and tropes classified as antisemitic in the International Definition of Antisemitism, adopted by the British Government, including: “making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” and “accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.”

Mr Icke is also listed to appear at “Top Secret” locations in Manchester on 17th November 2017, Southport/Liverpool on 14th April 2018 and Sheffield on 17th April 2018.

Campaign Against Antisemitism thanks the management at Central Hall and St Andrew’s Hall for taking a principled stand and cancelling the bookings. We trust that the other venues will follow their example and lead.

We also commend and thank North West Friends of Israel for successfully intervening to get events with Mr Icke cancelled at the Lowry Hotel in Salford, Sheffield City Hall and the Gladstone Theatre in Wirral.

Graffiti bearing what may be the logo of National Action, a proscribed terrorist organisation, has been found scrawled on a bus stop in Amhurst Park in Stamford Hill, alongside various messages including the words: “Too many yids f*** off”. National Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in December 2016 following a long campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism. There has also been speculation that instead of a National Action logo, the logo might be the symbol for the anarchist movement, however the accompanying messages appear to be racist in nature and do not reflect typical anarchist messaging.

The graffiti includes a ghoulish figure, which bears a moustache that could be likened to that of Adolf Hitler, along with a clenched fist and another specimen of what appears to be the National Action logo, or possibly the anarchist movement’s logo. The graffiti was found by volunteers from Stamford Hill Shomrim, a Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol. It has been reported to the Metropolitan Police Service.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service told the Jewish News that “The local policing team are working to capture the images and remove the grafitti in partnership with the local authority.”

If the graffiti is indeed the work of National Action’s followers, it is very possible that it was drawn by individuals whose intention is to cause the most severe harm to the Jewish community and other sections of British society. We trust that the police officers who investigate will treat this as a dangerous warning sign that merits resources being devoted to finding the perpetrator and clarifying their motive. Vigilance is vital, and we commend Stamford Hill Shomrim for bringing this graffiti to the attention of the police.

Readers of Metro appear to have rushed to respond to the paper’s prominent page two coverage of Campaign Against Antisemitism’s new research by proving British Jews right about antisemitism.

Our Antisemitism Barometer research found that 83% of British Jews believe that the Labour Party is harbouring antisemites, whilst 78% have witnessed antisemitism disguised as a political comment about Israel or Zionism, 81% believe that media bias against Israel was fuelling persecution of Jews in Britain, and 78% feel intimidated by tactics used to boycott Israel.

Two Metro readers rushed to respond by writing in to ably demonstrate exactly how British Jews are shouted down or ignored when they complain about antisemitism, in a double antisemitism whereby Jews not only suffer racism, but are then accused of lying when they complain about it.

One reader, Tom, complained bitterly: “Antisemitism is evil, but political discussion is not. Fighting antisemitism depends on knowing the difference. Fear of Senator McCarthy was part of my Detroit childhood and I know a witch-hunt when I see it. Labour must stop the witch-hunt.”

Another reader, who remained anonymous, also had strong feelings to share, writing: “There is a massive difference between antisemitism and being against Zionists who are anti-Palestinian.”

We are disappointed that Metro felt that these comments were worth publishing. Anybody can reply by sending a text message to 65400, beginning their message with the word: “VIEWS”. The best text messages may be published by Metro, which says that texting the number is charged at the standard network rate for a text message.

Today the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published new guidelines for prosecuting hate crime, including taking online hate crime as seriously as hate crime committed in person. We welcome the new guidelines, but they will not address the principal problem that the CPS only very rarely prosecutes antisemites.

Having had our input into the consultation process, we do recognise the advance that this guidance makes by treating online hate crime just as seriously as hate crime committed in person, but the CPS should always have treated online hate crime just as seriously. It is already clear in law that hate crime must be prosecuted, and there is no legal basis for routinely giving some forms of hate crime less attention than others. We are pleased that the CPS recognises this, but the law has not changed and nor have the CPS’s obligations.

The reason for the failure of the CPS to prosecute antisemitism seems to be a matter of willpower, not a lack of proper guidance.

What concerns us is that we have seen the CPS make policy announcements before with great fanfare, but then they fail to take action. The relentless three-year rise in antisemitic crime has been met by a decrease in the already low prosecution rate for offences against Jews and a complete lack of transparency by the CPS with regard to the manner in which it deals with antisemitic crime.

In the years that we have been monitoring prosecutions for antisemitism, the CPS has yet to prosecute more than two dozen known cases per year, despite antisemitic crime having surged by 45% since 2014, which was itself an exceptionally terrible year for antisemitic crime. The paltry number of known prosecutions has a very damaging knock-on effect: police forces have to constantly assess how they are using resources, so when police officers put time and effort into investigating an antisemitic hate crime, only for the CPS to decline to prosecute it in spite of the evidence, then it follows that those police officers will be less likely to put the same time and effort into investigating similar antisemitic hate crimes that are reported to them. At the same time, antisemites who are permitted by the CPS to escape punishment, are often emboldened and more likely to reoffend.

Our latest polling of the Jewish community shows the extent to which it has lost confidence in the will of the criminal justice system to protect it. Unless the CPS changes its stance towards crimes committed against Jews, the perpetrators will be emboldened to continue offending and Britain’s Jewish population will continue to worry that it does not have a long-term future in this country.

Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has announced the results of our Antisemitism Barometer research, a multiyear study conducted by CAA and YouGov.

We now have data that show that in a very British way, fairly and quietly, Britons have been rejecting antisemitic prejudice. British society has shunned a growing worldwide addiction to antisemitism and proved that so-called British values are no mere buzzphrase, but are embedded in our national being.

However, our research shows that British Jews have become so fearful of mounting antisemitic crime and the failure to excise antisemites from politics that they have increasingly considered leaving Britain altogether. Our research clearly shows that British Jews have pointed their fingers at the Crown Prosecution Service and the Labour Party.

If British society can fight antisemitism, why are our world-renowned criminal justice system and some of our famous political parties still doing too little?

YouGov was commissioned by CAA to survey attitudes towards Jews amongst the British population in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and CAA worked with partners in the Jewish community to survey British Jews’ responses to antisemitism in 2016 and 2017. The YouGov sample sizes were 3,411 in 2015, 1,660 in 2016, and 1,614 in 2017. CAA sample sizes were 1,857 in 2016, and 2,025 in 2017. The results of our survey of British Jews cannot be compared to a similar we conducted in 2015, due to a substantial change in our methodology. The full report is available on our website.

The research has revealed that almost a third of British Jews have considered leaving the UK in the past two years.

Only 59% of British Jews feel welcome in the UK, and 17% feel unwelcome. For the past two years, 37% of British Jews have been concealing their Judaism in public.

Last month, CAA published police figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showing that there has been a 45% surge in antisemitic crime since 2014. Additionally CAA revealed that the CPS has yet to prosecute more than two dozen antisemitic crimes per year.

52% of British Jews said that the CPS is not doing enough to fight antisemitism, and only 39% of British Jews felt confident that antisemitic hate crime would be prosecuted.

76% of British Jews feel that recent political events have resulted in increased hostility towards Jews, and for two years, more than 4 in 5 British Jews have considered the Labour Party to be harbouring antisemites in its ranks.

The failure of the criminal justice system and political parties to tackle antisemitism is in stark contrast with the attitudes of the British public towards Jews. YouGov’s polling for CAA found that antisemitism, measured by how many respondents agreed with seven antisemitic statements, has been in decline for the past three years. In 2015, 45% of British people held at least one antisemitic view, but that fell to 39% in 2016 and then dropped again to 36% in 2017.

In the report, CAA calls on the Government to urgently implement the recommendations of our last two National Antisemitic Crime Audits, and for all political parties to adopt our manifesto for fighting antisemitism. Our recommendations for the criminal justice system include basic measures such as producing specific training and guidance on antisemitic hate crime for officers and prosecutors, instructing Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to review all police forces’ responses to antisemitic crime, appointing a senior officer in each force with responsibility for overseeing the response to antisemitic hate crime, and requiring the Crown Prosecution Service to record and regularly publish details of cases involving antisemitism and their outcomes, as police forces are already required to do. Our recommendations for political parties are to adopt the Government’s definition of antisemitism, as many have, and to enforce it using transparent and robust disciplinary processes, with expulsion from the party in the worst cases.

Majid Mahmood, a partner at City Law Chambers in Luton and a director at Liberty Law Solicitors, has been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,595 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, in a case instigated by Campaign Against Antisemitism over antisemitic social media posts. Mr Mahmood was also suspended as a solicitor for 12 months but that period of suspension is itself suspended, so he can continue to practice as a solicitor unless he reoffends.

In 2016, a member of the public saw antisemitic Facebook comments posted by Mr Mahmood, which he posted underneath a video about the airlifting of Jewish refugees. Mr Mahmood commented: “The aint gods chosen people they’re Satans love child’s and it’s a shame e the plane carrying them didn’t blow up mid air [all sic].” When another user remonstrated with him, he told them to: “go and f*** yourself.”

The member of the public reported Mr Mahmood to Campaign Against Antisemitism, which submitted a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA obtained an apology from Mr Mahmood and warned him not to post such comments again, and was minded to leave the matter there. When Campaign Against Antisemitism took the first steps in taking legal action against the SRA, the matter was escalated to the SRA’s senior management, which corrected the decision and instead of closing the matter instead opened a formal regulatory investigation.

Upon reviewing its files, the SRA found that in 2015 Mr Mahmood had posted on Facebook: “Somebody needs to shoot all the Israeli Zionists dead then send their bodies to America as a present for Obama and his Zionist pals.” A member of public had reported the comment to the SRA but it was not reported to Campaign Against Antisemitism at the time, and the SRA took no action on that occasion.

The SRA brought a case against Mr Mahmood at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, alleging that: “On 13 October 2015 and 14 February 2016, he publicly communicated antisemitic and/or offensive and wholly inappropriate posts from his Facebook account contrary to Principles 2/1 and 6/2 of the SRA Principles 2011.”

Mr Mahmood, one of whose firm’s website states that “the principal [sic] of equal opportunity and diversity are fundamental to our continuing success”, denied that he was antisemitic, pointing to the fact that he had some Jewish friends. However, the SRA, expertly represented by David Bennett, successfully argued that “The content of both posts was unambiguously antisemitic” and “indicated a preference for lethal violence”. Ironically, one of Mr Mahmood’s firms, Liberty Law Solicitors had produced a pamphlet warning of the dangers of an “employee’s conduct on social media bringing the business into disrepute”.

The Tribunal ruled that: “The intemperate language used, the hatred manifested, including against anti-Zionists as well as Jewish people, and wishing them dead by graphic means were terrible ideas for a solicitor to be promoting” and ordered that Mr Mahmood must “pay a fine of £25,000, such penalty to be forfeit to Her Majesty the Queen” and that he must also “pay costs of and incidental to this application and enquiry in the sum of £9,595.” The Tribunal also ordered that Mr Mahmood “be suspended from practice as a solicitor for the period of 12 months from 2nd August 2017, that period of suspension to be suspended for 12 months from the same date.”

We are particularly pleased that in the Tribunal ruled that there is no such thing as a minor antisemitic act. When the Tribunal decided to apply a fine at the “upper end of the scale”, Mr Mahmood’s barrister, Gregory Treverton-Jones QC, argued that Mr Mahmood’s antisemitism was at the “lowest end”. The Tribunal ruled that “it was not open to a solicitor to behave in a more or less antisemitic way; he either behaved in an antisemitic way or he did not…[Mr Mahmood] advocated violence against Zionists and Jews. He had no way of knowing how a particularly impressionable individual with a propensity for reading the public Facebook pages on which his posts were published would respond. His behaviour was reprehensible and not to be minimised.”

Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, was a witness for the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Tribunal acknowledged the work done by Campaign Against Antisemitism, writing in its 39-page ruling: “It is disappointing that antisemitism continues to exist. In recent years there has been significant work done by organisations such as Mr Falter’s to educate and inform the public so as to reduce the incidences of antisemitism. It was very disappointing that a solicitor in February 2016 was espousing views in social media that the Tribunal had determined on the facts to be antisemitic.”

Whilst we do not agree with the decision to allow Mr Mahmood, who has repeatedly made vile statements calling for death and destruction, to remain in practice as an officer of the court, we nonetheless welcome this decision. We commend the Solicitors Regulation Authority for doing the right thing in bringing this action, and we applaud the Tribunal for sending this strong message that antisemitism within the legal profession will be severely punished.

Police are investigating a shocking antisemitic tirade in which a man reportedly shouted at a Jewish passenger on the London Underground: “I am the next Hitler and I am going to kill you.” According to a report in the JC, police are treating the incident as a hate crime. The Jewish passenger, who wears a Jewish skullcap, or kippah, is a solicitor who works in the City of London, and he was travelling home to Golders Green on the Northern Line on Wednesday, when the incident occurred.

The passenger, who did not wish to be named, explained to the JC that he feared for his life when the man shouted at him: “I am the next Hitler and I am going to kill you,” gesturing with his hand to simulate a gun, and making a “bang” sound to indicate a bullet being fired.

He told the JC that the man had got on the train at Old Street station and sat down opposite him. The man said: “The moment he sat down, he stretched his legs out to me and started nudging me. He then removed his legs and starting swearing at me extremely loudly. After about a minute of non-stop abuse he got up and went towards the doors and came back to show me a picture on his phone which said something about ‘Jews killing babies.’…It was clear to me and everybody in the carriage that he was targeting me because I am a Jew. I was extremely shocked at being spoken to like that and when he approached me with his phone I was extremely scared and expecting him to punch me at any moment.”

The suspect alighted at Angel station, the next stop, at which point the Jewish passenger left the carriage at the front of the train where he had been sitting and went to the driver’s cabin to report the incident. He said: “The driver told me that she heard the shouting and had alerted the police, who were waiting at the platform when we got to Euston, two stops further along the line. The police took a statement from me and another passenger on the train.”

A spokesperson for British Transport Police (BTP) said: “Officers are investigating after a 31-year-old man was verbally abused by a fellow passenger. The incident happened on board a Northern Line Tube service from Old Street to Euston on Wednesday, 16th August. Anyone who was travelling on board the service and witnessed the incident is asked to call BTP on 0800 40 50 40.”

A group of youths has reportedly directed Nazi salutes at an orthodox Jewish family on Canvey Island in Essex. A woman who witnessed the incident but asked not to be identified, told the Echo News that “We have a lovely family of orthodox Jews living near us. The family were outside minding their own business when three kids rode past on scooters — no older than 8-9 yrs old — stopped to take the time to do the Nazi salute. How rude and disrespectful. Total scumbags.”

Joel Friedman, a member of the local Jewish community posted a response to the alleged incident on social media. He said that: “Every single one of us orthodox Jews lost numerous relatives during the Holocaust. My grandparents lost the vast majority of their families and barely made it out alive. I’ve had plenty of Nazi salutes and Heil Hitlers thrown my way over the years and [it reminds] me of my grandfather with whom I was extremely close.”

He added that “In the vast majority of cases the perpetrators are teenagers, bored and uneducated if I my say so. Since my move to Canvey just over a year ago, personally I have had little negative experiences. The absolute vast majority are friendly, supportive, accepting and just treat us as equals — which is what we all are. I am so proud of Canvey and of its residents, neighbours, shop owners etc — you are all such a friendly bunch and supportive and for this I thank you from the depth of my heart.”

The Echo News reported that a community of orthodox charedi Jews had begun moving to the island from Stamford Hill “after being forced out of London by high rents.” The newspaper said that they chose Canvey Island “due to the community spirit and the former Castle View School site which they have bought and will turn into a Jewish school.”

An investigation has revealed that the banned pro-Hitler organisation National Action is actively recruiting, training and working out of a converted warehouse in Warrington. National Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in December 2016 following a long campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

National Action allegedly has a new and secretive leader, Christopher Lythgoe, who has been tasked with rebuilding the group beyond the spotlight. The remaining 80 members of National Action are not all reportedly permitted to know where their training base is, but are providing the thousands of pounds needed to rent and refurbish the warehouse into a gym and an office.

Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service decided to prosecute National Action’s former spokesman, Jack Renshaw, after lawyers for Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to declare our intention to launch a private prosecution. Renshaw has now been charged with two offences of incitement to racial hatred in relation to speeches made in February and March last year, as well as his tweets.

The leaders of West Dunbartonshire Supports the People of Palestine (WDSPP) in Scotland have reportedly shared shocking antisemitic posts on social media, but they apparently continue to enjoy the support of West Dunbartonshire Council. This support allegedly included making council premises available for WDSPP events, publicising the group’s activities on the council’s website, and even providing funding.

A researcher, David Collier, has meticulously uncovered appalling antisemitic conspiracy myths social media by leading members of WDSPP. Some of the graphic examples allegedly include sharing links that accuse the Israeli Secret Service, Mossad, of murdering Princess Diana; accuse a Mossad agent of being responsible for the 7/7 London bombings; accuse Israel of harvesting Ukrainian childrens’ organs; support the idea that Israel controls the US Congress; and allege that the leader of ISIS is a Mossad agent and that Israel is training ISIS terrorists.

They also allegedly shared links to modern-day antisemitic hate preacher, David Icke, to a Holocaust denial website about “Rothchild Zionism” and to an article and caricature claiming that six million Jewish deaths was a lie and only a total of only 271,000 Jews died in Nazi concentration camps.

Mr Collier also reported that these activists are involved with the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC). This comes in the wake of his 160-page report that confirmed widespread antisemitism inside the SPSC. The report, titled “Jew Hate and Holocaust Denial in Scotland” was the result of two years of research and investigation into the activities of the SPSC.

When alerted to the posts, Council Leader Jonathan McColl replied: “The shared posts are quite clearly the worst kind of conspiracy theory nonsense, designed to cause offence, and in no way contribute to sensible debate. That said, having looked at what you have sent, I cannot see anything written by any of the individuals on behalf of the group they are involved in that could be seen as racist.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism calls on West Dunbartonshire Council should show that it is serious about countering antisemitism by formally adopting the International Definition of Antisemitism, and then applying it by having nothing further to do with WDSPP.

Sussex Police has confirmed that 90-year-old Paul Pawlowski has been convicted for displaying a placard including the words: “Pull the chain, flush the Jew mafia down the drain” on the Old Steine, Brighton at 12.20 on 28th May. When confronted, Mr Pawlowski, a Burgess Hill resident, told officers that if they took his antisemitic placard and leaflets, he would walk up and down North Street and shout his views, which included other antisemitic messages.

On Tuesday, Brighton Magistrates’ Court fined him £100, which was increased to £150 because of the antisemitic nature of his crime, and also ordered him to pay costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £85.

Sussex Police hate crime sergeant, Peter Allan said: “I am pleased the court convicted the defendant in this case. People have a right to free speech, but hate speech will not be tolerated. If hate speech is not challenged appropriately, it can lead to communities feeling a sense of unease and can send a message to perpetrators that such behaviour is acceptable. This sentence sends out a clear signal that we will take a robust approach to those who target individuals based on their disability, gender identity, race, religion or sexual orientation. I hope this case will encourage other victims of hate to report such behaviour to the police. We will record all such incidents and take them seriously. We will investigate any allegations, irrespective of the age or any other demographic of those involved.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism thanks Sergeant Allan for his principled statement and commends Sussex Police for sending a strong message that they will not tolerate antisemitic hate crime.

We would like to thank Sussex Friends of Israel for providing information about this case.

On Tuesday evening, in separate incidents, a gang of three young men riding Transport for London’s public hire bicycles targeted two orthodox charedi members of the Jewish community in Stamford Hill. In the first incident, which occurred close to Morrisons supermarket, they snatched and rode away with the victim’s hat. Later that evening, at approximately 22:30, the same gang targeted another charedi Jewish man. When they were unsuccessful in their attempt to knock the second victim’s hat to the ground, they squirted him with liquid. With the well-publicised rise in acid attacks in the capital, this was extremely alarming for the victim, who said that he attempted to notify the police by dialing 999 but gave up after a lengthy wait for a response. Fortunately the liquid turned out to be water.

The first victim was visited by an officer from the Metropolitan Police Service who, we understand, told him that they would treat the incident as a theft that they expect to be unable to solve, rather than an antisemitic hate crime. The two victims were clearly targeted because of their distinctive appearance. It is therefore surprising that the police have reportedly decided to dismiss religion as an aggravating factor. It is also disappointing, given the prevalence of CCTV in the area, that they have so quickly given up hope of finding the culprits, who would have had to rent their bicycles using traceable credit or debit cards. If anybody has information that might assist the police in identifying these men, they should report it by dialing 101, and e-mailing investigations@antisemitism.uk.

Both of the victims contacted Stamford Hill Shomrim, a volunteer Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, which referred the cases to Campaign Against Antisemitism for assistance.

The University of Bristol has decided to take no action against a lecturer, Dr Rebecca Gould, over an article in which she claimed that “privileging the Holocaust as the central event in Jewish history” should end and that “the Holocaust persists and its primary victims are the Palestinian people.”

The university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost, Professor Guy Orpen, wrote: “it is our considered opinion that Dr Gould’s article is not antisemitic and does not breach the proper bounds of freedom of speech and academic freedom” in a letter to the Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism. The decision was reached by a panel appointed by the university, in response to a letter from Campaign Against Antisemitism dissecting the article’s antisemitic passages. The verdict has been published on the university’s website.

Dr Gould’s article titled “Beyond Antisemitism” was published in the radical left-wing Counter Punch magazine edition of November 2011. Dr Gould wrote: “Defining the Shoah vis-a-vis the Greek (and, incidentally, Christian) term for a sacrifice to G-d has helped make it available to manipulation by governmental elites, aiming to promote the narrative most likely to underwrite their claims to sovereignty. Claiming the Holocaust as a holy event sanctifies the state of Israel and whitewashes its crimes.” She added: “perhaps the time has come to stop privileging the Holocaust as the central event in Jewish history.” She concluded the article: “As the situation stands today, the Holocaust persists and its primary victims are the Palestinian people.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is antisemitic. Additionally, according to the expert legal opinion commissioned by Campaign Against Antisemitism, contending that either Jews, Israel or the West have “manipulated” the Holocaust to generate sympathy for Jews or for Israel or prevent criticism of them is an allegation “chosen to be emotive and upsetting to Jewish people and to generate hostility towards them.”

The article appeared on various websites but it seems to have disappeared from all but one website which offered a PDF download.

According to the University of Bristol School of Modern Languages website, the lecturer has a PhD from Columbia University and is a Reader in Translation Studies & Comparative Literature. She taught previously at New York University, Columbia University, and Yale-NUS College in Singapore and specialises in the literatures of the Persian and Islamic world (especially the Caucasus). She is “happy to supervise in the areas of Middle Eastern and Central Asian literatures and cultures, translation studies, Islamic studies, comparative literature, critical theory, and modern Iran”.

Dr Gould has not expressed any remorse and sent us the following statement: “A complaint was made by Campaign Against Antisemitism in relation to an article I published in 2011, which discussed the exploitation of the Holocaust by government elites in order to advance certain policy agendas. I refute any suggestion that the article contained antisemitic material; as I have publicly stated, it was a rallying call to people of conscience horrified by the slaughter of six million Jews to speak out against injustice everywhere…I stand firmly opposed to racism in all forms, from antisemitism to Islamophobia, and in support of academic freedom. The complaint was dismissed by the university which made a public statement that the article was not antisemitic and was within the ambit of academic freedom.”

Any current student at the University of Bristol can appeal this verdict, and Campaign Against Antisemitism will provide support to any student wishing to do so. If you are a student at the University of Bristol and would like to know more, please e-mail campus@antisemitism.uk.

An investigation by the Sunday Telegraph has uncovered antisemitism and far-right extremism at Rainhill High School, the nominated school for players enrolled in Liverpool Football Club’s academy. A series of whistleblowers have said that they believe that far-right extremism is endemic at the school, claiming that the management are failing to tackle the problem.

A whistleblower has told the Sunday Telegraph that “The lads have tried measuring other pupils noses to see if they are Jews and shouting ‘we are the SS, kill the Jews’ during a lunch break.” The newspaper was also told that Nazi memorabilia, including a helmet, and a flag associated with white supremacy were paraded through corridors, and that students sometimes “walk around humming Nazi marching music.”

One student was featured in a photo on the front page of the school’s newsletter allegedly giving the “Isis salute”, a gesture of support for the self-proclaimed Islamic caliphate. The headmaster later apologised, saying it was “issued in error” and removed the newsletter from the school’s website.

According to the newspaper, parents and teachers have raised their concerns with Ofsted and their trade union due to fears that the school was failing to tackle the problem. The school, however, has reportedly denied the allegations made in the investigation, but said that three students have been referred through Prevent, the Government’s counter-extremism strategy. One of the students had allegedly desecrated a cenotaph and another who had told a fellow pupil: “you’re so skinny you should be in Auschwitz.”

Headmaster John Pout told the Sunday Telegraph: “In my opinion we have not got an issue with right-wing extremism at Rainhill High School. The three isolated cases that have been brought to our attention have been dealt with quickly and thoroughly. We have been commended by Merseyside Police for our actions on these incidents.”

Pupils at the school have been identified as talented football players and some play for Liverpool Football Club’s under-18 team, but the club declined to give a comment to the Sunday Telegraph.

A secret meeting of neo-Nazi Holocaust deniers scheduled for tomorrow evening at a community centre in Holborn in central London has been cancelled following intervention from Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The meeting was part of the “Keep Talking” series of meetings organised by conspiracy theorist, Ian Fantom. Campaign Against Antisemitism informed the venue about the true nature of the meeting following a tip-off from Searchlight.

A recent Keep Talking event in nearby Camden saw notorious Holocaust denier Nick Kollerstrom attempt to speak, before the meeting was cancelled by Camden council, after pressure from activists. Copies of Kollerstrom’s Holocaust denying books have reportedly been on open sale at previous Keep Talking meetings.

According to Searchlight, an invitation to tomorrow’s meeting was allegedly circulated among London’s top neo-Nazis by the far-right London Forum organiser, Jeremy Bedford-Turner. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss conspiracy theories about the death of Princess Diana.

In March, a landmark High Court judicial review action brought by Campaign Against Antisemitism forced the Crown Prosecution Service to cancel its decision not to prosecute Bedford-Turner over an antisemitic speech to neo-Nazis in July 2015.

The Keep Talking meetings were started in the United States in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The conspiracy theory group has spread the antisemitic lies that Jews were behind the tragedy and that Jews working in the World Trade Centre towers were warned not to attend work on the day of the attacks.

Campaign Against Antisemitism thanks Searchlight for bringing this event to our attention, and we commend the venue for taking swift action in cancelling it.

Following a speech, translated by Campaign Against Antisemitism, in which Mohamed Farid Fouad Khamis, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the British University in Egypt (BUE) and one of its principal donors, promoted the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion, we wrote to the British Government to obtain assurances that the BUE would receive no further assistance whilst Mr Khamis remained associated with it. Mr Khamis’ speech, delivered at an event in March, was no mere passing reference to the antisemitic Protocols, but contained long passages in which he claimed that rabbis had convened to decide how Jews should control the world.

We have now received assurances that the Government and Loughborough University have already terminated their association with the BUE, with the final contract ending in December.

The Minister of State for International Development, the Rt Hon. Alistair Burt MP, confirmed to us in a letter that the Department for International Development does not provide assistance to BUE, writing: “I share your commitment to tackle antisemitism in all its forms, including in the perpetuation of the slanders within the Protocols of the Elders of Zion…I note your concerns about BUE very carefully. Thank you.”

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) confirmed that Loughborough University previously had a validation agreement with the BUE, whereby students passing courses at the BUE would receive their degree from Loughborough University, however the agreement was terminated in 2012. Under the termination clause of the agreement, the final degrees will be awarded in December this year, at which point the relationship will end.

We are pleased that the Department for International Development and HEFCE have investigated the matter thoroughly and, in the case of the former, that the matter has received ministerial oversight.

A children’s playground in Mace Park in the seaside town of Dovercourt in Essex has reportedly been vandalised with antisemitic and racist graffiti, including swastikas. According to the Harwich and Manningtree Standard, the playground’s swings, slides and climbing frames were all daubed with racist messages.

In photographs published by the newspaper, a swastika is clearly visible painted in black on a pink swing and the word “Jew” is scrawled in black on the blue roof of a climbing frame.

Nigel Brown, Tendring Council’s communications manager, told the newspaper that “An officer has been over to inspect the site and it is our aim to have the equipment steam cleaned tomorrow to remove all the graffiti.” Dave McLeod, Harwich Town councillor for the area, hit out at the vandalism, commenting: “I am totally disgusted quite honestly. The park is somewhere for children to enjoy and people have spoilt it. What is the deterrent? Do we really need CCTV on our play areas?”

Local parents and families are reportedly furious about the graffiti and have spoken out in disgust. One grandmother who takes her four-year-old grandson to the park said: “What if my grandson was to ask me what it means? I wouldn’t know what to say to him.”

Angry locals in Arbroath in Scotland have torn up propaganda from Vanguard Britannia, a right-wing white nationalist antisemitic movement. In one of the offensive flyers, the group blamed Jews, who they allege control the judiciary, media and government, “for pushing mass immigration of Muslims” and to “replace” white Britons, proclaiming: “we stand firm against white genocide.”

According to a report by The Courier, Vanguard Britannia was trying to boost their membership, but they were thwarted by local residents who tore down the shocking material which they described as “awful”, “truly chilling” and “terrible.”

In a tweet, the group challenged residents: “Tear it down and we’ll put it right back up with more.”

Vanguard Britannia started in the UK in June and appears to be a British version of Vanguard America, a self-described fascist movement. On their website, the group states: “Vanguard Britannia envisions a white Britain, free from Jewish usury, media control, and non-white immigration. It continues: “Are you filled with anger towards the politicians that allow for our children to be raped, run over and torn apart by bombs, while lining their pockets with the money of (((globalist entities))), ensuring their loyalty to their masters over their loyalty to you as your representative to follow the anti-Western agenda pushed by Marxists and Zionists? Then join the Vanguard and lead the fight for your family, for your nation, and for your people. When the Sun sets, we must rise.”

In the most recent update on their website, they blame Jews for immigration and link to a video on their YouTube page: “Our video ‘Who’s Behind the Migrant Crisis?’ has been spread across many channels and platforms, and shows that we shall not hold back from naming the Jew. We must spread the information far and wide, in both the digital and physical realms, and educate all on the evils the Jew wreaks upon our lands and people.”

Another poster on the website, covered in the Star of David, appears to blame the Jews for everything from white genocide to pedophilia.

Campaign Against Antisemitism applauds The Courier for exposing Vanguard Brittania and for the local residents of Arbroath for standing up to this hate.

We will be discussing this extremist group with social networks and the authorities.

Labour Councillor Luke Cresswell has been selected as the Labour candidate in the Sudbury South by-election. In the past, we have highlighted Councillor Creswell’s disturbing tweets, but rather than being disciplined by the Labour Party, it appears that Councillor Cresswell enjoys the Party’s continuing support.

In one, he tweeted a blood-drenched Israeli flag accusing Israel of genocide, captioned “Moses must be proud of you”. In another tweet, he uses a cartoon to portray Israelis as the new Nazis.

Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis” is antisemitic, as it “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis”.

Councillor Cresswell also made clear his support for Ken Livingstone in a Facebook comment after Mr Livingstone claimed that “Hitler was supporting Zionism”.

Confronted over the tweets by other Twitter users at the time, Councillor Cresswell defended the tweets, claiming that “it is nothing to do with religion”, but his reference to Moses, for example, rather contradicts him. Councillor Cresswell now appears to have deleted his Twitter account.

Councillor Cresswell has not yet responded to a request for comment.

We are grateful to the Labour Party members who brought Councillor Cresswell’s selection to our attention.

If you would like to join our Political and Government Investigations Unit, our Online Monitoring Unit, or one of our other teams, please volunteer.

‘Christopher’ Charles Panayi was convicted of racially aggravated criminal damage on Monday last week over an antisemitic road rage incident.

Mr Panayi became abusive towards a Jewish man at the junction of Conley Hatch Lane and the A406 on 31st January, stopping his car multiple times, exposing his buttocks and parting them, calling a Jewish man a “F***ing Jewish prick”, punching the Jewish man’s car window and smashing his wing mirror.

Shomrim North West London, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol provided evidence to the Metropolitan Police Service resulting in Mr Panayi’s prosecution.

Hendon Magistrates’ Court ordered Mr Panayi to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community service work, and to pay £1,000 in compensation and £620 in prosecution costs. He was also handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year.

A spokesman for North West London Shomrim said: “Charles Panayi was racist, abusive, violent and out of control. We are pleased that we were able to provide the Metropolitan Police Service with evidence leading to Mr Panayi’s arrest, prosecution and conviction.”

We commend North West London Shomrim, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service for ensuring that Charles Panayi has suffered the consequences of his disgusting antisemitic abuse. Rising antisemitic crime must be met with zero tolerance law enforcement.

South Wales Police are investigating after hackers reprogrammed an electronic billboard to display a Nazi flag, images of Donald Trump as a frog, a poster proclaiming that “Big Brother is watching you”, and a notice warning that shariah law is supposedly being imposed.

A police spokesperson toldWales Online: “On Tuesday evening South Wales Police received a number of calls relating to concerns regarding messages being displayed on the screens in Queen Street, Cardiff. We alerted the City Council and will investigate any crimes which may have been committed.”

The billboard has now been switched off until it can be fixed.

The hack appeared to be the work of hackers using online forum 4chan which is notorious for its antisemitic and racist memes.

A newly-released 160-page report has confirmed widespread antisemitism inside the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC). The report, titled “Jew Hate and Holocaust Denial in Scotland” is the result of two years of research and investigation into the activities of the SPSC, particularly on social media, by researcher David Collier. The report corroborates our own report into antisemitism inside the Palestine Solidarity Campaign released in February.

Predictably, instead of investigating and taking action over the report’s revelations, the SPSC responded by dismissing it. In a statement published on its website, the SPSC said that it “is not inclined to take seriously the so-called ‘research’ of a pro-Israel blogger whose primary purpose is to smear organisations that support Palestinian rights”.

According to Mr Collier: “At every event checked, on every high street, at every demonstration, those pushing hard-core antisemitic ideology were at the very front of SPSC activity. Two separate case studies suggested that between 40% and 50% of SPSC front line activists (at a minimum) engage in sharing Jew-hating material.”

In one case study, the investigation uncovered that of the sixty-one activists listed as present at the “No to Brand Israel at Edinburgh Festival” protest organised outside the Shalom Festival by the SPSC, thirty-one of them posted antisemitic content on social media. This included antisemitic images, promoting the conspiracy theory about global Jewish domination and Holocaust denial. This breaches the International Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the British Government.

The report found numerous activists sharing everything from far-left claims that ISIS is an oil-stealing apparatus of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, through to claims about the Holocaust which the uninitiated would consider to be the preserve of the far-right.

The report found: “The inevitable conclusion is that antisemitic tendency is a primary driver of anti-Israel activism…There is a strong probability that those who are introduced to anti-Israel material by SPSC activists on the streets are being influenced by people who adhere to an antisemitic mindset…Much of this activity seeks to spread antisemitic thought.”

Mick Napier, the Secretary of the SPSC, was a key focus of the report. Last month, Mr Napier was found guilty in court of aggressive behavior at a protest outside an Israeli-owned cosmetics store in Glasgow during the 2014 Gaza war. Mr Napier was also a speaker at the pro-Hizballah Al Quds Day march in Central London on 18th June. Campaign Against Antisemitism has submitted formal complaints over the “Al Quds Day” march.

We commend David Collier, and Jewish Human Rights Watch which commissioned the report, for producing such an important study.

Whilst the International Definition of Antisemitism clearly states that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”, it is very evident that in the anti-Israel movement, flagrantly antisemitic prejudices are widely-held and publicised.

The line between legitimate political discourse about Israel and antisemitism was expertly analysed in the legal opinion commissioned by Campaign Against Antisemitism, but sadly it is a line that many anti-Israel activists appear to be happy to cross, and which too major anti-Israel organisations appear to tolerate. It would seem from its response to the report that SPSC can safely be added to that list. Indeed, the SPSC website includes a section on antisemitism (a word which it places quotation marks around) and that section is subdivided into sections entitled “smears” and “legal attacks”.

SPSC appears to enjoy the support of numerous MPs and MSPs. Until the organisation takes credible steps to address the antisemitism within their movement, starting with the formal adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism, support for the SPSC should be considered beyond the pale.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has now analysed a large volume of evidence captured by the brave volunteers of our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit who attended Palestine Expo earlier this month, and also evidence from members of the public who sent us videos us or posted them on social media.

Palestine Expo 2017 was held on 8th and 9th July at the government-owned Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

The organiser, Friends of Al-Aqsa, chose to advertise a number of controversial speakers, which gave cause for concern about what the nature of the event would be. Prior to the event, we wrote to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government warning about the risk of giving a platform to speakers with a history of making extremely troubling statements. Had the event merely been “the biggest social, cultural and entertainment event on Palestine to ever take place in Europe”, as it was advertised to be, we would not have objected, but sadly our concerns were proven to be correct.

We will now be writing to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government again, this time asking for his assurance that he will intervene should the organisers attempt to hold another event at the government-owned venue. We will include the following concerning speeches and incidents in our letter.

First, in a speech on “Democratic Engagement and Justice for Palestinians”, Tariq Ramadan, an Egyptian-Swiss academic, claimed that the genocidal antisemitic terrorist group, Hamas, should not be regarded as terrorists, stating: “Netanyahu said that, just in 2001, what we heard is ‘what you’ve got in the States, is what we are getting in Israel.’ As if, Al Qaeda is exactly like Hamas and the Palestinian resistance. By saying that they are all terrorists, that’s exactly the game. And we are saying we contain terrorists? But there is a legitimate resistance to your state terrorism. Your state terrorism. What you are doing with the civilians in Gaza or in the West Bank, the way you are treating the Palestinians — this is something which has to be said and we know there is a connection…This way of playing with the word terrorist, is like yesterday you were a terrorist, today you are a freedom fighter — the way they did with Mandela.” Hamas calls for the genocide of Jews worldwide, whilst committing and condoning terrorist attacks targeting civilians and oppressing Palestinians, for example by hurling homosexuals from rooftops. To suggest that they may merely be freedom fighters is a gross and deliberate distortion.

Next, Lina Hadid Bourichi, a lawyer, allegedly said “Lobbying? Let me tell you about lobbying. I come from Washington DC, OK, that is where I was born and raised. My mother is a Palestinian who was raised in Nazareth and kicked out with her family, the Hadid family, in 1948. Where I come from, the Jewish Lobby is omnipresent. AIPAC the American Jewish lobby is omnipresent. 40,000 employees and that’s the start. East Coast, West Coast, the centre.” AIPAC is not a “Jewish lobby”, nor does it have 40,000 employees pulling strings throughout the United States (Hadid Bourichi appears to have inflated the number by a factor of approximately one hundred). According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.

In another speech, a speaker for a group called Free Speech on Israel allegedly stated that there were false accusations of antisemitism in the Labour Party, saying: “So, we switch now quickly to the UK Labour Party. We’ve had this wave of false antisemitism accusations. I’m in the Labour Party, I know lots of people in the Labour Party, we’ve also been on the left, I’m sorry where’s this antisemitism? Doesn’t exist in the Labour Party, it’s less in the Labour Party than in the population at large and… even in my branch I’ve got a fairly right — the leadership of my Labour Party branch is still the Blairites, the right wingers — they don’t like being accused of antisemitism either, it’s a false program, it’s a false set of accusations.” We have extensively chronicled antisemitism in the Labour Party and we consider attempts to smear those Jews who complain of antisemitism as conspiratorial liars to be an antisemitic endeavour.

Disgraced Labour activist, Jackie Walker, also provided evidence of very concerning statements when she posted a number of videos on her Facebook page from the breakout session at Palestine Expo. In one of the videos , Professor Jonathan Rosenhead, an academic at the London School of Economics, can be heard defending Ken Livingstone, who claimed and maintains that Zionists collaborated with the Nazis, claiming: “What happened was that in a rather confused radio interview, [Ken] used the words ‘Hitler’ and ‘Zionism’ in the same sentence…What he did was to reveal in a slightly gullible way something which people should have known more about, which was the fact that the Zionists and the Hitler regime did combine together and talk about how to get more Jews out of Germany into Palestine in the 1930s. So…we’re supposed to say that Ken is an antisemite. He’s not, he’s a hero.” In another video, Rosenhead is heard making the spurious and discredited claim and myth about the invention of the Jewish people and that Ashkenazi Jews are descended from Khazars. He said that: “Interestingly enough, an Israeli historian, not the most favourite Israeli historian of Israelis, called Shlomo Sand, who gave quite convincing evidence that most Jews are not Jewish [laughter] in that a high proportion of them are actually the result of forced conversions in the Middle Ages in central Europe. So in fact not only have those people not been to Israel but none of their relatives ever came from Israel before.” We will be writing to the London School of Economics, requesting a disciplinary investigation into Professor Rosenhead’s comments.

Outside the venue, attendees also engaged in antisemitic discourse. David Collier, an activist who blogs about antisemitism and the Middle East, posted a video on YouTube of an unidentified man outside the venue who demanded: “Who founded Israel? Rothschild. Who was Rothschild everybody?…They might have the nuclear weapons, they might have the tanks, they might have the media, they might have the banking system, they might have everything on their side but Jesus has G-d on his side…Who gives them the right to pull money out of thin air and then lend it to us as interest.” The libel that Jews control banking, media and government is one of the most well-known antisemitic conspiracy myths, which explicitly falls foul of the International Definition of Antisemitism. A woman is also visible in the video performing a Nazi salute, in full view of security officers.

Another activist, Joseph Cohen, also posted a video from outside the event. In the footage, a young child could be seen dressed up in military uniform as worn by armed Palestinian groups, while an unnamed man asked: “Who’s under the table running the world?…Who’s got the money in America?…American Jewish.” When a Jewish man asked who has the money in the Middle East, the man replied: “The leaders, they’re your crooks.” In the background, a group stood outside the venue chanting “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” a chant that only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with a Palestinian state. Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” is antisemitic.

We are also concerned about the admissions policy in effect at the event which we believe may have breached the Human Rights Act and other legislation by discriminating against attendees on the basis of their political or religious beliefs. One man posted a video online in which he is asked to leave by the venue’s head of security and then a police officer, which the man alleges happened because he was wearing a Jewish skullcap. He claimed that he had been in the venue filming events peacefully for hours but was only ejected when he donned his skullcap. In the footage he posted, security officers are heard claiming that he was being asked to leave for filming, but numerous other bystanders were also filming without attracting attention from the venue or police officers. The incident is now being investigated by the police and the videos have been removed from social media. In another incident, notorious antisemite Tony Greenstein alerted security staff to the presence of the blogger David Collier who had gone to observe the event. Whilst eating lunch at the venue with his wife and child, at Greenstein’s behest, Mr Collier and his family were allegedly made to leave by the venue’s staff, which Mr Greenstein said he was responsible for arranging on the basis that Mr Collier is a “Zionist snoop”. Supporting Zionism (the movement for the Jewish people’s right to self-determination) is a perfectly legitimate position and no person should be excluded from a public event for adhering to it, particularly not at the behest of a well-known antisemite.

Having warned the Department for Communities and Local Government about the event in advance, we are disturbed that the government-owned venue, which is an executive agency of the government, did not appropriately train its security officers or monitor what was being said.

Prior to the event we also wrote a letter, along with military leaders and MPs, calling on the Prime Minister to ensure that the government acted on her pledge in the wake of the recent terrorist atrocities to “deprive the extremists of their safe spaces” and to “become far more robust in identifying [extremism] and stamping it out across the public sector and across society.” Palestine Expo 2017 was a failure to deliver on that promise which the Department for Communities and Local Government must learn from and not repeat.

Following discussion between Campaign Against Antisemitism and News UK, which owns the Sunday Times, a further statement has been issued accepting our recommendations: “Further to our earlier statement we can confirm that Kevin Myers will not write again for the Sunday Times Ireland. A printed apology will appear in next week’s paper. The Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens has also apologised personally to Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz for these unacceptable comments both to Jewish people and to women in the workplace.”

The senior management of the Sunday Times previously sent Campaign Against Antisemitism an apology over the publication of an antisemitic column by Kevin Myers which has now been removed.

Martin Ivens, editor of the Sunday Times, said: “The comments in a column by Kevin Myers in today’s Irish edition of the Sunday Times were unacceptable and should not have been published. It has been taken down and we sincerely apologise both for the remarks and the error of judgement that led to publication.”

Frank Fitzgibbon, editor of the Sunday Times in Ireland, said: “On behalf of the Sunday Times I apologise unreservedly for the offence caused by comments in a column written by Kevin Myers and published today in the Ireland edition of the Sunday Times. It contained views that have caused considerable distress and upset to a number of people. As the editor of the Ireland edition I take full responsibility for this error of judgment. This newspaper abhors antisemitism and did not intend to cause offence to Jewish people.”

The column by Kevin Myers contained the following paragraph about the BBC pay row: “I note that two of the best-paid women presenters in the BBC — Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz, with whose, no doubt, sterling work I am tragically unacquainted — are Jewish. Good for them. Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price, which is the most useful measure there is of inveterate, lost-with-all-hands stupidity. I wonder, who are their agents? If they’re the same ones that negotiated the pay for the women on the lower scales, then maybe the latter have found their true value in the marketplace.”

The column has been removed from the online edition of the Sunday Times and we have now asked the Sunday Times for confirmation that Kevin Myers will never again work for a News UK title, and that the apology will appear in the print edition.

Myers is already known as a particularly unpleasant journalist who has called the children of single parents “bastards” and claimed that “Africa is giving nothing to anyone — apart from AIDS”. He has also devoted an entire column in the Belfast Telegraph to claiming that there was no Holocaust on the basis that not all of the Jews murdered by the Nazis were cremated, and attempting to nitpick over whether six million Jews really were murdered, claiming that the Holocaust had become a “dogma”. He wrote: “There was no holocaust, (or Holocaust, as my computer software insists) and six million Jews were not murdered by the Third Reich. These two statements of mine are irrefutable truths, yet their utterance could get me thrown in the slammer in half the countries of the EU.”

It is clear that Kevin Myers should not have been invited to write for the Sunday Times, and his editors should never have allowed the column to be published. That they removed the column and apologised for it within hours of its publication is proof that the decision to include the column was irrefutably wrong.

It is clear that the column breached clauses 12(i) and 12(ii) of the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s Editors’ Code and Principle 8 of the Irish Press Ombudsman’s Code of Practice by making discriminatory comments about Jews and also mentioning the religion of the Jewish BBC presenters at all.

In addition to no longer writing for the Sunday Times, we expect that Kevin Myers will no longer work as a journalist at any decent publication. We also understand that the Sunday Times will review its editorial procedures to examine how this lapse in editorial judgement was permitted in the first place.

The senior management of the Sunday Times has sent Campaign Against Antisemitism an apology over the publication of an antisemitic column by Kevin Myers which has now been removed.

Martin Ivens, editor of the Sunday Times, said: “The comments in a column by Kevin Myers in today’s Irish edition of the Sunday Times were unacceptable and should not have been published. It has been taken down and we sincerely apologise both for the remarks and the error of judgement that led to publication.”

Frank Fitzgibbon, editor of the Sunday Times in Ireland, said: “On behalf of the Sunday Times I apologise unreservedly for the offence caused by comments in a column written by Kevin Myers and published today in the Ireland edition of the Sunday Times. It contained views that have caused considerable distress and upset to a number of people. As the editor of the Ireland edition I take full responsibility for this error of judgment. This newspaper abhors antisemitism and did not intend to cause offence to Jewish people.”

The column by Kevin Myers contained the following paragraph about the BBC pay row: “I note that two of the best-paid women presenters in the BBC — Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz, with whose, no doubt, sterling work I am tragically unacquainted — are Jewish. Good for them. Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price, which is the most useful measure there is of inveterate, lost-with-all-hands stupidity. I wonder, who are their agents? If they’re the same ones that negotiated the pay for the women on the lower scales, then maybe the latter have found their true value in the marketplace.”

The column has been removed from the online edition of the Sunday Times and we have now asked the Sunday Times for confirmation that Kevin Myers will never again work for a News UK title, and that the apology will appear in the print edition.

Myers is already known as a particularly unpleasant journalist who has called the children of single parents “bastards” and claimed that “Africa is giving nothing to anyone — apart from AIDS”. He has also devoted an entire column in the Belfast Telegraph to claiming that there was no Holocaust on the basis that not all of the Jews murdered by the Nazis were cremated, and attempting to nitpick over whether six million Jews really were murdered, claiming that the Holocaust had become a “dogma”. He wrote: “There was no holocaust, (or Holocaust, as my computer software insists) and six million Jews were not murdered by the Third Reich. These two statements of mine are irrefutable truths, yet their utterance could get me thrown in the slammer in half the countries of the EU.”

It is clear that Kevin Myers should not have been invited to write for the Sunday Times, and his editors should never have allowed the column to be published. That they removed the column and apologised for it within hours of its publication is proof that the decision to include the column was irrefutably wrong.

It is clear that the column breached clauses 12(i) and 12(ii) of the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s Editors’ Code by making discriminatory comments about Jews and also mentioning the religion of the Jewish BBC presenters at all. We have called on the Independent Press Standards Organisation to require the Sunday Times to prominently print apologies in the next edition; investigate the editorial process that allowed this column to be printed in the first place; and recommend that Kevin Myers no longer be employed by any newspaper as a columnist or journalist.

The broadcasting regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), has revoked the license of Sheffield radio station, Iman FM, for broadcasting antisemitic and hate-filled speeches by Anwar Al-Awlaki, the “widely known terrorist leader and Al Qaeda recruiter.”

The station was suspended earlier this month pending representations to Ofcom by the radio station, however the radio station’s arguments that it should be allowed to continue to operate did not sway the regulator. In its revocation notice, Ofcom wrote: “On balance, after considering all the relevant factors, it is Ofcom’s Decision that the contraventions of the [Broadcasting] Code and failures to comply with the [Broadcasting Act] Licence conditions in this case are so extremely serious, and that the Licensee’s conduct was so extremely reckless that we have no confidence that the Licensee would be capable of complying with its [Broadcasting Act] Licence conditions or that similar breaches would be prevented in the future. On this basis, in Ofcom’s view it is necessary in the public interest to revoke the [Broadcasting Act] Licence…”

In its 18-page revocation notice, Ofcom confirmed Iman FM admitted to Ofcom that they had broadcast 25 hours worth of lectures by Al-Awlaki. The radio station had claimed that it was “not aware of the background of the preacher and had no knowledge of him being proscribed by the United Nations,” adding that “had this fact been known” they would not have broadcast the lectures.

In one speech broadcast by Iman FM, Al-Awlaki said that “Our problem is not with [Jews’] ethnicity but their mindset.” In another antisemitic comment condemned by Ofcom, Al-Awlaki referred to a highly controversial event in Islamic history relating to the Prophet Muhammad’s alleged order to kill a Jewish opponent. He stated: “Ka’ab was a Jew but ethnically an Arab, so that shows that our negative attitude towards Jews is not based on racism, not based on their ethnicity, so that proves we are not antisemitic. Our problem is not with their ethnicity but their mindset…the issue of the Muslims is not the ethnicity of the Jews but their mindset which leads such a people to become blasphemous against Allah, to speak against the prophet, and to reject his message, to plot against Muslims, cause disunity. It is against their evil actions themselves.”

Ofcom found that this statement would have been interpreted as justifying a “negative attitude” and critical view towards Jewish people, based on what it termed as Jews’ “mindset” and their “evil actions”. Ofcom wrote: “We considered this statement would have been perceived by listeners as justifying hatred or violence towards Jewish people, and therefore is a clear example of hate speech as defined by the Code.”

Ofcom first began to investigate Iman FM after a listener complained that they had aired lectures encouraging violence and religious hatred during Ramadan. Al-Awlaki, who advocated violent jihad against the United States, was killed in a drone strike in Yemen, authorised by President Obama, but his writings and sermons remain available online.

Campaign Against Antisemitism applauds Ofcom’s firm enforcement in this case,m which sends a strong message that the broadcasting of antisemitic hate speech will not be tolerated.

A Jewish woman who is the daughter of Holocaust survivors was allegedly told by a woman to whom she had asked a question: “We cannot answer you. We are German and we cannot answer Jews.” The disturbing incident reportedly took place by the esplanade in Bournemouth.

According to the alleged victim, who was visiting Bournemouth from Stamford Hill in London, she was sitting with her daughter when she noticed three women approaching: a short woman aged approximately 80, and two tall younger women who looked very much alike. The alleged victim and her daughter asked whether the two younger women were twins. As they came near, the alleged victim asked: “Excuse me, but may I ask you something?” The oldest woman stopped and answered in a German accent: “We cannot answer you. We are German and we cannot answer Jews.”

The alleged victim said that the incident shocked her so much that she could not move initially. “Something has happened to me since.” She said that before she was trusting with strangers and smiled easily, but now she expects hostility. She initially received support from Stamford Hill Shomrim, which then referred the case to Campaign Against Antisemitism.

This incident has been reported to the police. We are following developments closely.

Shomrim North West London has appealed for witnesses after a man allegedly shouted antisemitic abuse and directed Nazi salutes at a Jewish girl on a bus. The man, who is described as a short 50-year-old of Asian descent was reportedly wearing a light blue top and carrying bags containing flowers. The incident occurred yesterday evening on the number 13 bus, following which the suspect alighted at a stop on Finchley Road, near Temple Fortune.

Any witnesses should call the police on 101 or Shomrim North West London on 0300 999 1234.

Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London, is reportedly facing a new disciplinary investigation by the Labour Party over comments he has made since he was suspended from the Party for claiming that Hitler supported Zionism.

According to the JC, Labour sources have confirmed to them “that another probe into the former Mayor of London “is under way”. It is said to centre on claims against Mr Livingstone since he was first suspended from the party in June 2016 and also his failure to show any remorse.” According to the report a leading lawyer has been appointed to make an initial assessment of the new allegations, which are believed to relate to Mr Livingstone’s statements since his suspension.

The Labour Party’s failure to expel Ken Livingston for his repeated claims that “Hitler was supporting Zionism” was the Party’s final act of brazen, painful betrayal.

Haringey Council has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism amid threats and heckling from the public gallery. Council Leader Claire Kober, a Labour Party councillor, proposed a motion to adopt the definition, and the motion was seconded by Gail Engert of the Liberal Democrats, with the support of both parties. The motion appears to have been passed unanimously, however activists interrupted proceedings repeatedly by shouting from the public gallery, with one voice heard shouting: “We will see you at your Constituency Labour Party.” Labour Councillor Joe Goldberg tweeted that he was threatened by fellow Labour Party members.

Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes the fact that the motion was carried with cross-party cooperation, and commends those who proposed it. Nevertheless, it is concerning that local members of Labour’s Momentum faction organised a lobbying event on the specious basis that the definition supposedly suppresses criticism of the State of Israel and stifles support for Palestinians. As we have repeatedly pointed out, the definition clearly states that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”, a point which was also made during the debate at Haringey Council.

It has also been reported that a number of Labour councillors were excused from voting after they indicated they would refuse to back the motion.

We commend the councillors who proposed and supported this motion. The opposition to the motion took the form of a menacing rabble and we call on the Labour Party in particular to discipline any of its members who took part in heckling and threats. Regrettably we hold out little hope that they will take any action at all.

The debate follows the publication on Sunday by Campaign Against Antisemitism of expert legal guidance on the definition which finds that “The Definition is a clear, meaningful and workable definition” which “should be used by public bodies on the basis that it will ensure that the identification of antisemitism is clear, fair and accurate.”

Tonight I sat in Full Council threatened by Labour Party members for voting for motion on anti-semitism while speakers were shouted down

The makers of a popular frivolous reasoning game, “Will you press the button?”, have removed antisemitic content from their app following a complaint by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism was contacted by a member of the public who had been playing the game with her son, when an antisemitic question popped up. The game invites players to consider whether they would accept something negative happening if something positive were also to happen, for example asking whether you would “press the button” to “gain the powers of your favourite superhero”, even if doing so would also mean that “the hero’s entire rogues gallery will hunt you down until they are defeated”.

The game is generally silly and good-natured, prompting players to consider various fanciful dilemmas. However, tucked amongst the mostly innocuous questions, the game also contained shocking antisemitic content, including asking whether players would “press the button” to “prevent the Holocaust from happening but [the downside is that] 6 million Jews survive”, or to “find undeniable proof that the Jews did 9/11 but [the downside is that] if you release it or tell anyone you’ll get assassinated by Mossad 5 minutes later”.

The questions had been answered in the affirmative by tens of thousands of players, many of whom may have been children.

Campaign Against Antisemitism contacted the app maker, which responded that the questions “were created by users before we had any moderation system” and have now been removed.

We are particularly concerned by antisemitism in computer games, especially those aimed at children. Anybody who comes across material of concern is encouraged to report it to investigations@antisemitism.uk. In this case we were pleased to have been able to have the antisemitic content removed within four hours.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has today published the opinion of expert counsel on the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism. The definition, which was adopted by the British government in December, following campaigning by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Sir Eric Pickles and others, has become a vital tool in the fight against antisemitism.

David Wolfson QC and Jeremy Brier, who acted for Campaign Against Antisemitism pro bono, drew up the nine-page opinion which includes a detailed assessment of the definition itself, considers the application of the definition in difficult cases, and contains useful advice for politicians and public bodies (such as universities) which are considering using the definition.

The opinion finds that “The Definition is a clear, meaningful and workable definition” and that it “should be used by public bodies on the basis that it will ensure that the identification of antisemitism is clear, fair and accurate.”

Since the government adopted the definition, we have seen disturbing efforts to attack its legitimacy by far-left elements within constituency branches of the Labour Party and the University and College Union. This opinion makes clear the baseless nature of such attacks.

We have now circulated the opinion to all universities, and we are writing to all MPs to draw it to their attention.

We are extremely grateful to David Wolfson QC and Jeremy Brier for providing this valuable tool which clearly sets out the legal position with regard to the definition.

A demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in London yesterday saw scenes reminiscent of extreme Islamist rallies in parts of the Middle East.

At the demonstration against the use of metal detectors to prevent terrorist attacks at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, supporters of Hizballah brazenly flew the antisemitic terrorist organisation’s flag, just a month after a large pro-Hizballah procession marched down some of London’s most iconic streets.

When a small group of pro-Israel demonstrators arrived, anti-Israel demonstrators grabbed their Israeli flag and set it alight, shouting “Allahu akbar” and stamping on it.

We will be bringing the incident to the attention of the Home Office.

On Wednesday, Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted formal complaints over the pro-Hizballah “Al Quds Day” march through central London on 18th June. The complaints are based upon our review of evidence gathered by the volunteers of our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit and members of the public.

Whilst the British government has proscribed the “military wing” of Hizballah under the Terrorism Act 2000, the “political wing” is not proscribed, something that even Hizballah finds ridiculous. In October 2012, Hizballah Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, said: “We don’t have a military wing and a political one; we don’t have Hizballah on one hand and the resistance party on the other…Every element of Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, are in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority.” Hizballah’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, who is the leader of any fictitious “wing” of Hizballah that the government may wish to imagine, said: “If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”

We continue to campaign for Hizballah to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation in its entirety, and we are discussing our proposals with the government.

Last week, our National Antisemitic Crime Audit found that in 2016, antisemitic crime grew by 14.9% compared to 2015 (44.5% compared to 2014), but only half of police forces charged any of the antisemitic crimes reported to them. The failure to enforce is especially alarming due the ferocity of antisemitic crime: 1 in 10 crimes involved violence. The Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, responded by promising to review our recommendations and crack down on hate crime.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has submitted formal complaints over the pro-Hizballah “Al Quds Day” march through central London on 18th June. The complaints are based upon our review of evidence gathered by the volunteers of our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit and members of the public.

We have asked the Charity Commission to open a statutory inquiry into the involvement of a registered charity in the organisation of the march, including the production of Hizballah flags and placards which stated “We are all Hizballah”.

Additionally, we have reported statements by Nazim Ali, a pharmacist who spoke using a portable public address system throughout the march and led chanting, to the Charity Commission and the Metropolitan Police Service. We allege that Mr Ali announced to the crowd: “It is the Zionists who give money to the Tory Party to kill people in high-rise blocks,” referring to the Grenfell Tower disaster. Other statements by Mr Ali that we have referred to the police included: “We are fed up of the Zionists, we are fed up of their rabbis, we are fed of their synagogues, we are fed up of their supporters” and a claim that “The Israel Intelligence Service is also known as ISIS, they are part of the same organisation…Zionists, ISIS are the same, only difference is the name.”

Whilst the British government has proscribed the “military wing” of Hizballah under the Terrorism Act 2000, the “political wing” is not proscribed, something that even Hizballah finds ridiculous. In October 2012, Hizballah Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, said: “We don’t have a military wing and a political one; we don’t have Hizballah on one hand and the resistance party on the other…Every element of Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, are in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority.” Hizballah’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, who is the leader of any fictitious “wing” of Hizballah that the government may wish to imagine, said: “If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”

We continue to campaign for Hizballah to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation in its entirety, and we are discussing our proposals with the government.

The Sun has reported that ISIS supporters called on jihadis to attack Jewish worshippers at British synagogues during the Jewish Sabbath last Saturday. The call followed the temporary closure of the al-Aqsa Mosque and locking down of the area by Israeli security forces following themurder of two Israeli police officers in a terrorist attack in the Old City of Jerusalem. The paper cites research carried out by the Washington-based think tank, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reportedly uncovered disturbing antisemitic posts on Telegram, an encrypted chat service.

The posts allegedly called for the “Apes” to be prevented from “attending their places of disbelief” followed by the hashtags #synagogues, #schools and #shops. There was then a link to a Wikipedia list of British synagogues. The links were reportedly posted on the a pro-ISIS Telegram group.

Further on in the group conversation, a blood-spattered Israeli flag was allegedly posted along with a poem reading: “The sun will shine red between Gaza and Rafa, The moon will blacken over the peak at Mt. Hermon, Flowers are dead and girls become slaves, Loads of soldiers will return to town as corpses.” According to The Sun, this was followed by a list of kosher shops and delis around the UK, in London, Birmingham, Gateshead, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

In February, ISIS terrorists used Telegram to call on their supporters to terrorise Jewish communities in the West, singling out the UK.

The Herald Scotland has brought to light that a man and women seemingly dressed as Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun won a fancy dress competition at a Hallowe’en party organised by a flute band at the Airdrie and District Orange Hall and Social Club in Scotland in 2013. Two children at the party allegedly wore clothes branded with the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis. A shocking group photo has emerged of the man giving the Nazi salute, standing with the woman and children.

Police Scotland confirmed to the Herald Scotland that “it was investigating the incident to determine whether a hate crime had been committed.”

Highly-offensive photos from the annual Halloween parties held in the Airdrie and District Orange Hall and Social Club in 2010 and 2013 were reportedly reposted on a public Facebook page designed to promote the activities of the Orange Order. The Herald Scotland published some of these photos which have since been deleted from Facebook.

The Herald Scotland reported that “the Orange Order has ignored calls to condemn a flute band behind a fancy dress party.” In a statement, however, the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland said that it “does not seek immunity from media criticism” but newspapers have a responsibility to be “impartial or even-handed.” It continued: “We understand that the press has a role to play, but there is a difference between holding to account and pursuing a baseless agenda to attack and demonise our Protestant culture and heritage.”

Ephraim Borowski, Director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, ScoJeC, told the paper that “The meticulously-planned industrialised murder of six million people solely on the grounds of their ethnicity is not a joke, and neither is anything that glorifies those who planned it. Racism, including racism against Jewish people — antisemitism — must always be condemned in the strongest terms, and we would urge the Orange Order to do so.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism is monitoring developments closely and we are pleased that Police Scottish are taking this matter seriously.

A Jewish man’s religious fur hat was allegedly thrown off in an antisemitic attack in north-east London. According to Stamford Hill Shomrim, a Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol, the incident took place on Saturday morning between 00:15 and 00:20 in Amhurst Park in Hackney.

The alleged victim, a recognisably Jewish man, was crossing Stamford Hill from Clapton Common (near Boots chemist) towards Amhurst Park during the Jewish Sabbath. As he reached the centre crossing island, three suspects approximately 15-17 years old, crossed into the centre of the road. They allegedly started swearing at him and tried to scare him in a completely unprovoked attack. The victim continued to cross the road into Amhurst Park and just before the bus stop, one of the youths ran up behind him and chucked off his fur hat of the kind traditionally worn by some charedi (orthodox) Jews.

Stamford Hill Shomrim is assisting the victim. We are following this case with interest.

Assisting a victim of antisemitic hate crime, where suspects intimidated the victim & chucked off his religious hat in an unprovoked attack pic.twitter.com/5n3z96XRfd

The Crown Prosecution Service has bizarrely attempted to defend its extremely poor record on prosecuting antisemitic hate crime by pointing out that it is prosecuting more hate crime than ever before, just not antisemitic hate crimes.

In response to Campaign Against Antisemitism’s National Antisemitic Crime Audit research, which was released today, the Crown Prosecution Service issued a statement saying: “Last year we prosecuted more hate crimes than ever before – more than 15,000 cases. We do not recognise the statistics contained in this report. Religiously-aggravated hate crimes display an ugly element of society which can be devastating to victims who have been targeted because of their beliefs. We will always prosecute crimes against people of all faiths where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to do so.”

The statement fails to address the crux of our criticism of the Crown Prosecution Service, which is that last year they prosecuted a paltry 20 known cases of antisemitism, and only 12 the year before. Admitting that they prosecute many thousands of hate crimes every year, but have yet to prosecute more than 20 antisemitic crimes merely proves the validity of our criticism.

Our research revealed, the parlous state of law enforcement against antisemitism, with hate crime targeting Jews surging by 44.5% in the past two years, but charging of antisemitic crime plummeting by 35.5%, whilst only 15 and 12 known cases were prosecuted in 2016 and 2015 respectively.

The research and our press effort was the work of volunteers. If you would like to support our work, please do volunteer or donate.

We are encouraging our supporters to read more about the report, or watch our short explanatory video, and then write to their MP.

New figures obtained from all UK police forces by Campaign Against Antisemitism for its National Antisemitic Crime Audit show that hate crime targeting Jews has escalated for the third year running, reaching the worst level on record.

Antisemitic hate crime has surged 44% since 2014, making 2016 the worst year on record

1 in 10 antisemitic crimes were violent but only one violent antisemitic crime was prosecuted in 2016

Almost half of police forces did not charge a single one of the antisemitic crimes reported to them

Only 1.9% of antisemitic crime was prosecuted — just 20 cases last year

The Home Secretary has issued a statement promising to “consider the report’s recommendations carefully”

In 2016, antisemitic crime rose by 14.9% against 2015, or 44.5% against 2014. There were 1,078 antisemitic crimes in 2016 and a consistently elevated level of antisemitic crime has become the new normality for British Jews.

Police forces recorded 105 violent antisemitic crimes in 2016, meaning that on average, 1 in 10 antisemitic crimes involved an act of violence against a Jewish member of the public. Violent antisemitic crime continued to disproportionately affect smaller Jewish communities outside London and Manchester, as it has in past years.

Despite promises to crack down on antisemitic crime, the number of antisemitic crimes charged in 2016 decreased drastically, again. 2016 saw the number of antisemitic crimes charged plummet by 30.5% compared to 2015, or 35.5% against 2014, when antisemitic crime began to surge. In 2016, only 89 antisemitic crimes resulted in charges being brought meaning that only 8.3% of hate crimes against Jews resulted in charges. Astonishingly, 48.9% of the police forces which received reports of antisemitic crime did not charge a single one of them.

A paltry 20 cases of antisemitic crime were prosecuted in 2016, of which only 2 were violent crimes. In 2015, 12 antisemitic crimes were prosecuted, only 3 of which involved violence. There is no prosecution data for 2014.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has recently resorted to privately prosecuting antisemites itself, and in March won a landmark judicial review against the Crown Prosecution Service over its decision not to charge a neo-Nazi.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has had to repeat its recommendations from last year’s report this year because, despite many promises, they have not been implemented by law enforcement bodies. The recommendations are simple and include basic measures such as producing specific training and guidance on antisemitic hate crime for officers and prosecutors, instructing Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to review all police forces’ responses to antisemitic crime, appointing a senior officer in each force with responsibility for overseeing the response to antisemitic hate crime, and requiring the Crown Prosecution Service to record and regularly publish details of cases involving antisemitism and their outcomes, as police forces are already required to do.

In a statement, the Rt Hon. Amber Rudd MP, Home Secretary, responded to the report, saying: “Hate crime of any type is not acceptable. Everyone in this country has the right to be safe from violence and persecution. We are working together to tackle antisemitic hate crime in all its forms and using the full force of the law to protect every person in the UK. Our Hate Crime Action Plan has encouraged further action against hate crime across the police and criminal justice system. This includes encouraging more victims to report incidents to the police. We will consider the report’s recommendations carefully as we develop new ways to rid the country of this sickening crime.”

In the foreword to the report, Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, commented: “2016 was the worst year on record for antisemitic crime, yet instead of protecting British Jews, the authorities prosecuted merely fifteen cases of antisemitic hate crime, including one solitary violent crime. The failure of police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service to protect British Jews is a betrayal. The solutions are simple, but whilst the right promises are being made, little has been implemented. The result is that British Jews continue to endure intolerable levels of hate crime. Britain has the political will to fight antisemitism and strong laws with which to do it, but those responsible for tackling the rapidly growing racist targeting of British Jews are failing to enforce the law. There is a very real danger of Jewish citizens emigrating, as has happened elsewhere in Europe unless there is radical change.”

The Argus, based in Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, has revealed that newly-elected Labour MP for Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, has allegedly called for Labour activist Melanie Melvin to be reinstated to the Labour Party despite her claim that the BBC faked footage of a Syrian gas attack at the behest of the “Israeli lobby”.

On 7th April, a tweet on Ms Melvin’s account suggested that the Israelis were part of a conspiracy to fake a nerve gas attach by the Assad regime. She allegedly tweeted: “Breaking: Sarin gassing was filmed by the BBC at Pinewood on the orders of Mrs May and the Israeli lobby.” The tweet appears to have been deleted.

According to a report in the JC at the time, “Labour has confirmed that an activist who sent anti-Israel and anti-Jewish tweets is no longer a member of the Party.” It added: “However, a spokesperson for South East Labour Party declined to comment on whether she had been expelled or suspended.” The Argus suggests that Ms Melvin was subsequently suspended.

The Argus revealed that Brighton and Hove city councillor, Caroline Penn, told the paper that “she felt lied to by Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle after the MP told her over Twitter he was “not appealing” on behalf of a Labour Party activist.” But in a leaked letter from Mr Russell-Moyle to the General Secretary of the Labour Party, seen by The Argus, the MP says he “recommends” the member’s reinstatement, concluding: “I do hope her record and her apologies will be enough to…allow her to return to membership.”

Councillor Penn told the paper that she was “furious” to learn of the content of the letter, written a week before the Twitter exchange with Mr Russell-Moyle in which she accused him of “defending the indefensible.”

The Argus alleged that “Following a conversation with Ms Melvin, Mr Russell-Moyle wrote to Labour Party General Secretary Iain McNicol on June 30 to say her tweet seemed ‘unhinged at best’ but had, he believed, been made as a parody of online conspiracy theorists. He said her behaviour showed ‘naivety but no malicious intent’ and said, as a ‘stalwart of the campaign’ who has apologised, the member should be reinstated.”

Ivor Caplin, the former MP for Hove, told TheArgus: “I can’t see how anyone could say she should continue to be a member of the Labour Party. We have to take firm and decisive action on this issue.” He said there was “ample evidence” that the tweet by Ms Melvin breached the International Definition of Antisemitism.

According to the paper, Mr Russell-Moyle told Councillor Penn via Twitter that he had “reported” the conversation with Ms Melvin to the Party, writing: “I’ve a duty to relay a genuine conversation…She will have to appeal herself. I’m not appealing on anyone’s behalf.”

Yesterday he told TheArgus: “I’m not appealing on her behalf. My understanding is there was an appeal going in and I was asked for evidence on her behalf. I was asked what my opinion was. She had assured me she was trying to show how stupid those views were. Based on that conversation I believe she’d been suitably apologetic.” He added that if further evidence came to light that Ms Melvin held antisemitic views, that there “should be no place her her [sic]” in the Labour Party. He said he would be “more than happy” to apologise to Councillor Penn “if she feels betrayed.”

The only problem with this excuse is that the tweet about Sarin gas was not Ms Melvin’s only problematic tweet. On 2nd February, responding to a post calling for action against the “bullying” of Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, Melvin allegedly tweeted that “maybe she could claim Jewish ancestry. Then there’d be action.” She also claimed that allegations of antisemitism in the Party “weaken us all” and were “unfounded smears.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes Councillor Penn and Mr Caplin’s intervention. We will continue to monitor this case closely.

The broadcasting regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), has suspended Sheffield radio station, Iman FM, for broadcasting antisemitic and hate-filled speeches by Anwar Al-Awlaki, the “widely known terrorist leader and Al Qaeda recruiter.”

In one speech broadcast by Iman FM, Al-Awlaki said that “Our problem is not with [Jews’] ethnicity but their mindset.”

According to Ofcom’s breach decision posted online: “Overall Ofcom considered the breaches in this case to be extremely serious and has today issued a Notice under section 111B Broadcasting Act 1990 suspending the Licence.” According to the suspension notice, Iman FM has 21 days to provide an explanation for the broadcast before the station is shut down.

Iman FM confirmed to Ofcom that they had broadcast 25 hours worth of lectures by Al-Awlaki, claiming that they were “not aware of the background of the preacher and had no knowledge of him being proscribed by the United Nations.” They added that “had this fact been known” they would not have broadcast the lectures and accepted the material breached the Broadcasting Code.

Ofcom began to investigate Iman FM after a listener complained that they had aired lectures encouraging violence and religious hatred during Ramadan. Al-Awlaki, who advocated violent jihad against the United States, was killed in a drone strike in Yemen, authorised by President Obama, but his writings and sermons remain available online.

In one antisemitic lecture condemned by Ofcom, Al-Awlaki referred to a highly controversial event in Islamic history relating to the Prophet Muhammad’s alleged order to kill a Jewish opponent. He stated: “Ka’ab was a Jew but ethnically an Arab, so that shows that our negative attitude towards Jews is not based on racism, not based on their ethnicity, so that proves we are not antisemitic. Our problem is not with their ethnicity but their mindset…the issue of the Muslims is not the ethnicity of the Jews but their mindset which leads such a people to become blasphemous against Allah, to speak against the prophet, and to reject his message, to plot against Muslims, cause disunity. It is against their evil actions themselves.”

Ofcom found that this statement would have been interpreted as justifying a “negative attitude” and critical view towards Jewish people, based on what it termed as Jews’ “mindset” and their “evil actions”. Ofcom wrote: “We considered this statement would have been perceived by listeners as justifying hatred or violence towards Jewish people, and therefore is a clear example of hate speech as defined by the Code.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes the finding from Ofcom and the strong message that it sends that the broadcasting of antisemitic hate speech will not be tolerated.

After the Metropolitan Police Service refused to answer questions from Campaign Against Antisemitism about the pro-pro-Hizballah “Al Quds Day” march, their flimsy attempt to hide their record from scrutiny has been laid bare.

The Metropolitan Police Service apparently does not consider allowing hundreds of supporters of terrorist group Hizballah to parade through our capital to be in any way prejudicial to “national security”, but it was for “national security” reasons that the police force declined to answer questions from Campaign Against Antisemitism.

We began work to try to prevent the flying of the genocidal terrorist organisation’s flag months ago. Metropolitan Police Service officers informally gave us conflicting accounts, telling us that nobody had been arrested at previous Al Quds marches, or that officers had gathered evidence at the marches and then made arrests later. We decided to find out exactly what had happened to people flying the flag of Hizballah, on the record.

On 26th April, our Scrutiny Unit filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, asking whether they arrested people at Al Quds Day marches in 2015 and 2016, and whether those arrests were related to terrorism charges

Despite the Freedom of Information Act requiring that the answer be provided within 20 working days, the Metropolitan Police Service waited until two days after the march, nearly a month late, to tell us that they refused to answer on various spurious grounds, including “national security” reasons. The police force also claimed that answering would “be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime [or] the apprehension or prosecution of offenders”.

Whilst we appealed the decision to decline to answer our questions, we also asked London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore to put our questions to the Mayor of London. Whilst the Metropolitan Police Service spared no excuse in trying to avoid answering our questions, which would have meant telling us that in the past two years it has failed to arrest any of the Hizballah supporters marching through London, the Mayor of London was perfectly direct.

In written answers to Mr Dismore, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan revealed that the Metropolitan Police Service made no arrests over flying the Hizballah flag during the “Al Quds Day” marches in 2015 and 2016, as we suspected.

It is extremely worrying that no arrests have been made for showing brazen support for an international terrorist group in the past two years, and it is outrageous that the Metropolitan Police Service has sought to conceal its record.

We continue to work with lawyer on our next steps following the march.

Former military leaders and MPs have joined Campaign Against Antisemitism in issuing a call to the Prime Minister over extremism and antisemitism. The joint letter has today been made public in The Telegraph. The letter stated:

On Westminster Bridge, at the Manchester Arena, on London Bridge, in Borough Market and outside a mosque near Finsbury Park, 36 innocent people were murdered and over 150 were hospitalised by Islamist and far-right terrorists. Since June 2014 alone, our security services have stopped 18 terrorist plots inspired by Islamist extremism.

The number of plots will continue to increase and the demand on our excellent security services will grow, unless we defeat the ideologies of hatred that turn our citizens away from the pluralistic British values that we all enjoy. We have to identify, challenge and stamp out the extremism that lurks in our communities.

Islamist extremism is an evil ideology that is a perversion of Islam. It exploits our freedoms and democracy to preach hatred, sow division and promote intolerance. As the Prime Minister rightly acknowledged on the steps of Downing Street on 4th June, things need to change and we cannot allow this evil the safe spaces it needs to breed, even if it means having “some difficult, and often embarrassing conversations”.

Public platforms, including UK taxpayer-owned buildings, are being used to aid the spread of Islamist extremism. Whilst the Prime Minister is right to challenge internet service providers to play an active role in combating the spread of extremist material online, we must also look at the gatherings where extremism can spread offline.

The government failed to ban the Islamic Human Rights Commission’s Al Quds Day march on 18th June. This was an event which saw hundreds march with the flag of the terrorist group, Hizballah, through the centre of London, chant “ISIS and Zionists are the same”, with one speaker blaming “Zionists” for the horrendous Grenfell tower disaster.

Islamist extremism and antisemitism go hand-in-hand. On 8-9th July, the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, a UK taxpayer-owned building opposite Parliament, will host Palestine Expo, “the biggest social, cultural and entertainment event on Palestine to ever take place in Europe”. The event is organised by Friends of Al Aqsa, despite the Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, writing to Friends of Al Aqsa over concerns that the organisation and those connected with it “have expressed public support” for Hamas and have “supported events at which Hamas and Hizballah have been praised” .

Whilst the government is rightly strong in its rhetoric, it must back this up by denying extremists of all kinds the platforms they require to divide our communities.

We call on the Prime Minister to take all necessary steps to prevent Palestine Expo from taking place in UK taxpayer-owned buildings, and prevent the future use of such buildings, including the Houses of Parliament, by groups which oppose our values and ideals.

Signed:

Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East Colonel Tim Collins OBE, former commander of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment David Davies, MP for Monmouth Baroness Ruth Deech DBE Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism Colonel Richard Westley OBE MC, former commander of the Operational Training and Advisory Group Colonel Richard Kemp CBE, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan Dr Matthew Offord, MP for Hendon Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government

The Prime Minister told the nation that “enough is enough” following the recent terrorist attacks and she promised that extremists would be deprived of their “safe spaces”. In the month since making that promise, London’s iconic major roads have been closed by police in order to allow a march by supporters of the terrorist organisation Hizballah, and now Ebrahim Bham, an antisemitic hate preacher, has been permitted to enter the country to address the Palestine Expo at the government-owned prestigious Queen Elizabeth conference centre.

We warned the government about the pro-Hizballah march, we voiced our concerns about the speakers at Palestine Expo, and we implored them to stop Bham from entering the country.

In a speech delivered by Bham on the “Middle East” and posted on the website “Lectures by Sheikh Ebrahim Bham”, he said compared Israelis to Nazis, quoting Goebbels to say that: “‘People tell me that Jews are human beings. Yes, I know they are human beings. Just as fleas are also animals. Just as fleas are also animals, they are also part of human beings like that.’…Using that example, the psyche of the whole people seems to be to mete out the very same treatment to others the way was meted out toward them. And that seems to be the psyche. That they don’t regard Palestinians as human beings.” Under the International Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the British Government, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” and “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” is antisemitic.

In another speech delivered by Bham on the “Situation of the Muslims”, he said that all Jews and Christians are agents of Satan: “For us to expect otherwise, or to try and appease the Americans or the Western world is naïve in the extreme. The Qur’an tells us ‘the Yahood [Jews] and the Nasara [Christians] will never be pleased with you.’ You can never appease them until you follow their religion, their way of life, and we are not prepared to do that. We will never be able to do that. It is naïve to expect otherwise.” He continued: “Then secondly, the aims, the objectives, the goals of Islam are completely opposed to what they believe, are completely opposed to their dreams, objectives and goals. So they are fulfilling their evil urges. They are fulfilling their evil urges, acting as agents of Shaytaan [Satan] in employing instruments, methods and plots against Islam and the Muslims.”

The government is doing a difficult job in difficult circumstances, but as an organisation which works closely with the government even we find it incomprehensible that despite the intelligence we have provided, the government is permitting extremism to flourish. Ebrahim Bham will not be speaking out of sight at some hidden gathering place; he will openly address a ticketed audience in the government’s very own convention centre opposite Parliament.

Rather than merely stepping up the rhetoric against extremism, we need to see concrete action. If Britain is to protect its Jewish citizens and indeed all of society, then its government cannot continue to be outwitted by extremists and terrorist sympathisers.

Graffiti describing charedi (orthodox) Jews as “leeches” is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Service after being reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, a Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

The graffiti was found on a telephone booth in an area of London with a large Jewish population. The graffiti included a drawing of a charedi Jew, along with the words “47 leeches”. The number 47 could be a reference to a logo used by the band Pro Era, which combined the digits 4 and 7 in a manner which resembled the swastika flag used by Nazi Germany. Neo-Nazi groups commonly use numeric codes such as 14, 18 and 88, which are usually quite simplistic, for example 18 refers to the first and eighth letters of the alphabet, which are Adolf Hitler’s initials.

British Telecom will be removing the graffiti and it has been temporarily covered. Anybody with information should call the police on 101, citing reference number 2516 of 7th July 2017.

Graffiti on a phone box depicting Jews as "Leeches" (a term used by anti-Semites). The number "47" is a code for a modern Swastika variant pic.twitter.com/zIhzRXFSdN

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has finally decided to add his voice to the growing clamour to proscribe Hizballah in its entirety under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Whilst the British government has proscribed the “military wing” of Hizballah under the Terrorism Act 2000, the “political wing” is not proscribed, something that even Hizballah finds ridiculous. In October 2012, Hizballah Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, said: “We don’t have a military wing and a political one; we don’t have Hizballah on one hand and the resistance party on the other…Every element of Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, are in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has long led calls for Hizballah to be proscribed in its entirety by the Home Secretary.

Hizballah seeks the annihilation of all Jews worldwide and has committed acts of terror from Bangkok to Buenos Aires to Burgas, yet on 18th June, hundreds of its supporters were permitted to march through central London for the annual “Al Quds Day” pro-Hizballah show of force. Our lawyers are reviewing evidence from the march, which the Metropolitan Police Service allowed to go ahead, even closing major roads and moving anti-terrorism demonstrators out of the way.

In a letter to London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore, Mr Khan said: “I share the concerns of the Jewish community about support shown for Hezbollah, which is an illegal, proscribed and antisemitic organisation. Antisemitism or hate crime of any kind has no place in our city, where we don’t just tolerate diversity, we respect and celebrate it. I remain in contact with the [Metropolitan Police Service] Commissioner about this issue, and will be writing to the Home Secretary to make strong representations on behalf of London’s Jewish communities about their legitimate and understandable concerns. I will continue to work with the [Metropolitan Police Service] and communities across the capital to do everything in my power to crack down on extremism and ensure London’s Jewish communities feel safe and secure in London.”

Two weeks ago, Mr Khan​ grew angry and lost his temper during a session of Mayor’s Question Time at the London Assembly. One by one, Assembly Members David Kurten of UKIP, Andrew Dismore of Labour, and Andrew Boff of the Conservatives had asked the Mayor whether he would join calls for the Home Secretary to proscribe the whole of Hizballah. The Mayor however refused to be pressed on whether he would back such calls with his own letter to the Home Secretary, repeatedly insisting that he needed to see more evidence, and even that the best thing for him to do would be to obtain more funding for the Metropolitan Police Service, despite the police refusing to take any action until the whole of Hizballah is proscribed. When Assembly Member Andrew Boff demanded clarity on whether the Mayor will write to the Home Secretary, the Mayor lost his temper, refusing to confirm what he would do and instead resorting to astonishing playground taunts.

The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute National Action’s former spokesman, Jack Renshaw, after lawyers for Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to declare our intention to launch a private prosecution.

After waiting more than a year without taking action against Renshaw, the Crown Prosecution Service has now charged him after our pro bono legal team, led by Jonathan Mann QC and Pamela Reddy, partner at Simons Muirhead & Burton solicitors, wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions telling her that unless she took action, Campaign Against Antisemitism would step in and undertake the prosecution ourselves.

Renshaw, 22, was the spokesman for pro-Hitler group National Action until the Home Secretary designated National Action a proscribed terrorist organisation, at the culmination of a long campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

In a video of one of Renshaw’s speeches in March last year, he is heard to say: “Now, the refugee problem is part of a bigger problem. It’s a symptom of a disease. That disease is international Jewry. In World War Two, we took the wrong side. We should have been fighting the communists. Instead, we took the side of the communists, and fought the National Socialists who were there to remove Jewry from Europe once and for all. That’s what the Final Solution was. Instead, we let these parasites live among us, and they still do. They get into our councils, they get into our institutions, they get into our parliament, they run our banks, they run all of the companies we see around us. But we let these people, we let these people destroy us, and they are still destroying us now. And we’re pointing fingers at the symptoms and not the disease. Let’s cure the disease and then cure all of the symptoms by default…You can call me Nazi, you can call me fascist, that is what I am.”

Echoing his normal rhetoric, a Twitter account allegedly operated by Renshaw was used to attack Jews, with one tweet on Boxing Day last year declaring: “Jews are financial and cultural parasites, destroying Europe. Let’s actually start the ovens this time. #Holohoax #WithJewsWeLose #NSForever”. Another tweet claimed that the Holocaust was a hoax: “2.4 million Jews were living in Nazi territories, 3.8 million of those Jews applied for reparations and 6 million died? #BasicMath #Holohoax”.

Though we are dismayed that it has taken so long for the authorities to take action against Renshaw, we are pleased that he has now been charged, and we will follow the trial with interest.

The real question is why Campaign Against Antisemitism needed to become involved at all. Last year there were a pitiful twenty prosecutions for antisemitism, despite rising hate crime targeting Jews. In this case we have succeeded in ensuring that the Crown Prosecution Service took action, but even with our legal interventions through means such as private prosecution and judicial review, far too few cases are being prosecuted. In the absence of law enforcement, antisemitism will continue to spread, antisemites will become bolder, and attacks on Jews will become more common and more ferocious. The Crown Prosecution Service must arise from its slumber and start prosecuting antisemites in meaningful numbers.

The Jewish Community stands at a key moment in its history as a minority community living in the United Kingdom. Though after the Second World War it might have expected a certain low-level of antisemitism to rumble on — particularly on the far-right, among neo-Nazis — it did not expect antisemitism to make the leap it had made in earlier epochs: namely to reinvent itself and find a stronghold on the left.

Though this reinvention has been in the making for several decades on the so-called hard, doctrinaire left, it did not fully bear fruit until the Gaza War of 2014, when it finally became obvious in mainstream discourse: especially to users of social media, in sections of the press, and to Jews on campus, both as teachers and as students.

But when that same ‘hard left’ took over the leadership of the Labour Party, there was a sickening lurch, as those closest to this new antisemitism became emboldened and promoted. In a short period of time under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, that antisemitism has matured beyond tropes demonising the Jewish state, until it is now possible to hear tropes favoured by the Nazis being spouted by elected Labour officials.

Despite losing the election, Mr Corbyn has strengthened his grip on the Labour leadership. Amongst the young in particular, he seems to have attained a populist status that is impervious to criticism. Labour Party critics of Mr Corbyn, who formerly laid down antisemitism as a red line issue for endorsing his leadership, are now seeking posts in his cabinet, as if that racism is now an ‘undesirable flaw’ that can be morally accommodated. In this setting, British Jews cannot be blamed for imagining themselves to be living in a dystopia: one in which many Corbynites identify with a community of virtue, but where hatred of a particular ‘other’ is nevertheless permitted. The atmosphere is pregnant with premonitions of disaster for the Jewish community.

Arguably two individuals personify that dystopia best, as both are not only senior figures on the Corbynite left, but also have been close personal friends and allies of Mr Corbyn himself: Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London and Jackie Walker, the former Vice-Chair of Momentum.

As regards Ken Livingstone, three months ago today the Labour Party failed to expel him for claiming that “Hitler was supporting Zionism”. At that point, 107 Labour MPs and 48 Labour peers signed a statement expressing their disgust, declaring: “We stand with the Jewish community and British society against this insidious racism. This was not done in our name and we will not allow it to go unchecked.”Though a snap General Election intervened, the dust has settled to reveal Livingstone still standing, and the summary expulsion that should have seen him banished so long ago apparently forgotten.

Then this week, Jackie Walker, an individual who has taunted Jews with offensive references to the Holocaust that even Corbynites like Owen Jones have been repulsed by, as well as citing the trope promoted by Louis Farrakhan that “many Jews” were the “chief financiers of the slave trade”, launched a renewed tirade on social media.

In addressing a Jewish social media user against whom she had taken umbrage, she wrote “I’m offended by people who claim Israel is a democratic state and who use holocausts for political ends. I’m offended that in a year when we have seen unparalleled attention on racism it’s been almost 100% confined to antisemitism. I’m offended that in the recent dialogue on racism it’s power that has counted not so much evidence. I’m offended by people who…claim victimhood to mask their own deep racism, who copy fascists…who make one people more important than another.” She concluded: “You want to be offended — go ahead.” Though repetition in her case is proving tedious, Jackie Walker has once again made statements in clear breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism accepted by the Labour Party, which are also clearly offensive to Jews, and which, in addition, bring the Labour party into disrepute.

On the three month anniversary of the ‘Not in my name’ declaration, and in the light of yet another offensive post by Jackie Walker, we at Campaign against Antisemitism call once again — despite the imperviousness of the Labour party — for swift action to be taken and for transparent justice to be seen to be done. We will, in addition, continue to point out that antisemitism has holed Labour below the moral waterline, in a way that ultimately will cause it to sink entirely, no matter how healthy its fortunes seem to be now.

However, nothing less than the moral health of the United Kingdom’s polity is now at risk. For Her Majesty’s Opposition to turn away from such bigotry as if it was something to be politically accommodated is unacceptable for the nation as a whole, let alone a party that claims to be a bulwark against racism.

To an adoring crowd at Glastonbury, Mr Corbyn proclaimed to the biggest cheer of the night: “…racism is wrong, divisive and evil within our society”.

We live in a dystopia of the kind we never thought we would witness, but it is here. As a consequence, both the Jewish community and the Labour Party find themselves teetering on the edge.

A man has been charged with racially-aggravated common assault and a racially-aggravated public order offence after allegedly attacking two Jewish men in the early hours of this morning. The man, who appeared to be drunk and is believed to be an Italian in his late twenties or early thirties, saw a Jewish passerby, grabbed his side curls, and shouted in broken English, “F***ing Jew, why you kill the kids?” He then allegedly shouted “Motherf***er Jude, I want to cut your —” at a second Jewish man and made a motion as though to cut his side curls.

A man and woman, both described as Polish and middle-aged, were arrested yesterday evening on Clapton Common in London after allegedly attacking Jewish people near a local synagogue. The couple, who had a dog, allegedly approached Jewish people, banging on a car, pushing two people and punching another in the face, shouting “Kurwa” (a Polish expletive) and telling them in broken English: “Dog stay here England, you Jews go away.”

Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol was called and followed the assailants to Clapton Common where they were arrested on suspicion of common assault and racially aggravated public order offences.

We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim for their fast response which ensured that the suspects could be arrested.

Bedfordshire Police has confirmed that Ashuk Ahmed MBE is “no long [sic] a member” of its Independent Advisory Group (IAG). No additional information or explanation was given.

Campaign Against Antisemitism exposed Mr Ahmed in April in the Daily Mail over his antisemitic social media posts, including the conspiratorial charge that ISIS is a Jewish invention whose horrors are propagated by the “Jewish media and their gentile pawns” in order to “justify more slaughter.” Mr Ahmed also posted a conspiracy theory video entitled “Humanity United against AshkeNAZI”, an extreme antisemitic group which claims to “expose…the current take over of the United States by the Jewish Ashkenazi tribe.” Ahmed further claimed that “Zionists control half the world”, told racist jokes in which Jews spitefully spit in Arabs’ clothes and urinate in their drinks, claimed “Jewish democracy” means bloodlust, wrote that the Labour and Conservative Parties are in the grip of their “Zionist paymasters” and painted the Israeli Prime Minister with blood dripping from his mouth while feasting on a child (reminiscent of the blood libel, a medieval antisemitic trope).

Despite interviewing Mr Ahmed under caution about the posts, Bedfordshire Police allowed him to remain on the IAG, which advises on hate crime among other duties. He quietly stood down following a complaint to police in November 2014, but then returned as Vice Chair of Bedfordshire Police’s South IAG.

When we raised the matter with Bedfordshire Police in April, Chief Superintendent David Boyle told us that “there have been no concerns raised among the force of impartiality from any current serving members [of the IAG].”

Astonishingly, Mr Ahmed was also selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Parliamentary constituency of Luton South, despite the Party already knowing that he was an antisemite. The Party only moved to suspend Ahmed when Campaign Against Antisemitism exposed him in the Daily Mail. Mr Ahmed clearly has some standing in his local community and was awarded an MBE in 2009 for “services to young people.” He has worked as a community development officer for North Hertfordshire Council, and he has also worked at a radio station which received the Queen’s Award for Volunteering and which purportedly works to tackle extremism.

We are pleased that Bedfordshire Police has at long last confirmed that Mr Ahmed no longer advises the force, though we remain deeply dissatisfied by the way that the force has handled the matter. Bedfordshire Police was fully aware of Mr Ahmed’s views, having investigated him themselves, and those views should have disqualified him from being considered for advisory roles. Bedfordshire Police still has questions to answer.

We have now written to the Honours Forfeiture Committee to recommend that Mr Ahmed be stripped of his MBE.

Mohamed Farid Fouad Khamis, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the British University in Egypt (BUE) and one of its principal donors, has promoted the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Mr Khamis’ conspiracy-laden speech at a Cairo conference is particularly disturbing because there is close cooperation between the BUE, the British Government and universities in the UK.

The comments were made in a speech at the second annual conference on “Sustainable Media and Development for Arab Societies, Real Challenges and Future Prospects” which was organised by the El Shorouk Media Academy under the patronage of Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, the Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Egyptian Government and the Head of the Egyptian National Committee to UNESCO.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, sometimes shortened to “Protocols”, is one of the most offensive and common antisemitic conspiracy myths about Jews. It is an antisemitic document that was forged at the start of the twentieth century by the secret police of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and used to incite mob violence against Jews. It purports to be the minutes of a meeting of Jewish leaders, at which they discussed their subversive plot for global domination.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has translated a video from 27th March of the speech in which Mr Khamis said in Arabic: “The Protocols of Zion: one hundred of the most important Zionist leaders of the world assembled, got together, so that they agree on how to control the world. This event is definitely true and documented.” Mr Khamis continued: “The hundred got together for a week behind closed doors, nobody can enter in their midst. So they discussed: how can we control the world? And they reached agreement on the protocols that are here [Mr Khamis holds documents aloft]. Some say there are 14 protocols and some say 24. And in both versions, it is written: ‘we will control the world with the media, then with money.’ The hundred got together and agreed to the protocols. Protocol means an agreement on a plan of action. And they were scared that it might leak out!”

Mr Khamis then went into great detail, claiming: “A funny story really: so they made 100 copies and wrote ‘copy number one’ to this person, this Rabbi, ‘copy number two’ for that Rabbi, and they gave it to him, and so on. The important thing is that the copies were given by the names. One of them lived in Paris, he had an apartment there and he had a French girlfriend, he went to meet her, then he got busy and went to the bathroom. She searched his pockets for money or other valuables, she found the document, she took it, hid it and smuggled it, then sold it. And from then the Protocols of Zion were publicly known.”

Mr Khamis added that “The protocols talk in a very clear way on how to carry out control of the media and whoever consumes it, will discover a very strange thing. He will understand the meaning of the ‘Arab Spring’ or the ‘Arab Autumn.’ Is it a black day [Egyptian colloquialism meaning a disastrous time]? Yes it is! He will understand [former US Secretary of State] Condoleezza Rice when she described ‘creative [destruction and] chaos [in the Middle East].’”

The Minister was seated next to Mr Khamis throughout, and accepted an award from him, but he later repudiated Mr Khamis’ speech in comments to Al Bawada News: “The Minister confirmed in reply to Al Bawaba News on the importance of the media in all its forms, insisting very strongly on his refusal on what came out of the mouth of Mohamed Farid Khamis regarding the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and other matters that relate to that subject, as Egypt respects all religions and is no enemy to any particular one. On the contrary, all countries must and their various media outlets have to work in order to bring their peoples together and helping dialogue between their respective cultures.”

According to the BUE’s website, “The formation of a British University in Egypt arose from a 1998 Memorandum of Cooperation between the UK and the Egyptian Governments.” It continues: “Planning for the new institution was put in train and financial support was provided by a group of prominent Egyptian business and public figures, principal amongst whom was Mr Farid Khamis, Chairman of Oriental Weavers, a major international carpet manufacturing company. In 2004, with strong support from the British Embassy and the British Council, a Presidential decree was issued establishing the British University in Egypt.” The website further states: “The University has been supported by a high profile and influential Board of Trustees compromising [sic] individuals drawn from UK and Egyptian business, public life and educational sectors. A group of British universities, led by Loughborough University provided the academic direction, teaching and quality management processes thereby ensuring the ‘British’ quality of the education.”

BUE and Mr Khamis’ company did not respond to our request for comments.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is writing to the Minister of State for Universities, the Chief Executive of Universities UK and the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England about Mr Khamis’ antisemitic speech. It is unconscionable that British taxpayers’ money should go to supporting an institution whose Chairman of the Board of Trustees would espouse and endorse such repulsive and discredited views.

The BBC must immediately and unequivocally apologise for stating that “The Holocaust is a sensitive topic for many Muslims because Jewish survivors settled in British-mandate Palestine, on land which later became the State of Israel.”

The line appeared in a BBC News article about German Muslim schoolgirls who went on a visit to concentration camps in Poland suffering racist abuse from local people. The line has now been removed.

The Holocaust is indeed a sensitive topic for many reasons, not least because six million Jews were systematically massacred. It should not be a sensitive topic to Muslims, or anybody else, because of the foundation of the State of Israel. Zionism, the movement to create the modern State of Israel began decades before the Holocaust, and had the country existed at the time of the Holocaust, millions of innocent Jewish civilians may have lived.

For the BBC to lend credence to the notion that it is legitimate to be “sensitive” about the Holocaust because of the existence of the State of Israel invokes antisemitic notions that the existence of the State of Israel is in some way racist, and it is offensive to tar “many Muslims” in this way. The International Definition of Antisemitism states that “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” is antisemitic.

According to Israeli news website NRG, Facebook’s representative in Israel has confirmed in a letter to an Israeli parliamentarian that the company has no intention of removing Holocaust denial content from Facebook unless compelled to do so by law.

Jordana Cutler, Facebook’s public policy representative in Israel wrote in a letter to Israeli MK Uri Maklev that Holocaust denial content will be removed in Israel and other countries where it is illegal, but not in countries like Britain which do not have specific legislation outlawing Holocaust denial.

According to NRG, Facebook considers Holocaust denial to be the expression of an opinion which should be challenged. She wrote: “In some cases, instead of the removing and censoring of content, exposure and the condemnation of the lies and the narrow-mindedness are more significant to promoting the truth.”

She claimed however that Facebook will remove hate speech and Nazi symbols, which exposes Facebook’s view that denying the Holocaust is not hate speech and is less offensive than the sight of a swastika.

Facebook’s policy of permitting Holocaust denial is repulsive and irresponsible. This latest announcement is merely the latest in a litany of attempts to dodge the expensive and difficult task of policing incitement on Facebook.

The company appears to be pressing ahead with attempts to remove “fake news”, but apparently it is not bothered by fake history and incitement.

Palestine Expo 2017, with a list of controversial speakers, will be going ahead on 8th and 9th July at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster, opposite the Houses of Parliament. The conference centre “is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government”.

It is extremely troubling that this event is being held at an iconic, government-sponsored venue, right opposite the seat of British democracy. We wrote to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, expressing our concerns, however today the Department for Communities and Local Government confirmed to Campaign Against Antisemitism that the event is authorised to proceed following “checks” made by the government. We understand that Mr Javid wrote to the organisers in contemplation of cancelling the event, but that after the organisers threatened legal action, he authorised the event to proceed.

The event is billed as “the biggest social, cultural and entertainment event on Palestine to ever take place in Europe” and is being heavily advertised. According to the Palestine Expo Facebook page on 6th June: “This week over 200 Palestine Expo billboards went up across London Underground platforms.” A closer look, however, has uncovered troubling undertones to what is billed as a cultural event that will give the British and European public a taste of Palestinian food, art, music, entertainment and history. We would like to thank Jewish Human Rights Watch for sharing detailed information about this event with us.

The organisers of the event are the Leicester-based, Friends of Al-Asqa, which was founded and is chaired by Ismail Patel. At a “Stop the Gaza Massacre” demonstration in London on 10th January 2009, during “Operation Cast Lead”, Mr Patel told a cheering crowd that “Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. The reason that they hate Hamas is because they refuse to be subjugated to be occupied by the Israeli state and we salute Hamas for standing up to Israel.” Hamas is listed by the British government as a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act and advocates the murder of Jews around the world. In 2009, Friends of Al-Aqsa published an opinion article by Palestinian journalist Khalid Amayreh, who claimed that “It is well known that Israel, through the numerous Zionist lobbies or pressure groups, more or less controls America’s politics, media and financial institutions” and that the Iraq war “was conceived in and planned by Israel through the mostly Jewish neocons in Washington.”

We put these matters to Friends of Al-Aqsa and Mr Patel. Friends of Al-Aqsa told us that “We consider antisemitism and any form of racism extremely repugnant”, that Mr Patel’s praise for Hamas was merely “intended to be specific to that time period [during ‘Operation Cast Lead’] while Gaza and its governing body (Hamas) were under sustained military assault”. It also noted that it removed the article by Mr Amayreh from its website and has published articles by a number of Jewish people.

The list of speakers for the Palestine Expo 2017 includes individuals with worrying views.

One speaker, John Pilger, an Australian film-maker, wrote in TheGuardian in 2006 that Hizballah represented “humanity at its noblest”, writing: “The resistance to rapacious power, to epic crimes of invasion (which the Nuremberg judges called the ‘paramount’ crime) is humanity at its noblest; yet the paradox warns us that no resistance is pretty; that each adds its own form of violence in order to expel an invader (such as the civilians killed by Hizbollah rockets); and this has applied to heroic partisans in Europe and heroic Kurds and those faceless, despised Iraqis who have succeeded in pinning down the American homicidal machine in their country.”

Another speaker, Tariq Ramadan, an Egyptian-Swiss academic, was banned from 2004 to 2010 from entering the United States for allegedly supporting a charity that the Bush administration labelled a fundraiser for Hamas (the ban was lifted by the Obama administration). He also reportedly wrote on Facebook in May 2014 that Belgian officials may be part of a conspiracy to falsely present the Brussels Jewish museum shootings as antisemitic. According to The Forward, Professor Ramadan wrote: “The two tourists targeted in Brussels worked for the Israeli secret services”. Claiming that the Belgian government had not commented, Professor Ramadan pondered: “Coincidence. Is this a case of antisemitism or a maneuver to divert attention from the real motives of the executioners? We oppose all slaying of innocents and racism but at the same time, it’s time they stopped taking us for fools.”

A third speaker, Malia Bouattia, is the recently-defeated President of the National Union of Students (NUS), who called Birmingham University a “Zionist outpost in higher education” because it has “the largest Jsoc [Jewish student society] in the country.” She railed against “Zionist-led media outlets”, characterised Palestinian terrorism as “resistance” and voted against condemning ISIS. When called on by Campaign Against Antisemitism and numerous student leaders to retract her comments, she penned an article in TheGuardian claiming that her accusers were simply sexists and racists. Ms Bouattia has since refused to confirm that Israel even has a right to exist, and she told an audience at the School of Oriental and African Studies that the government’s anti-terrorism strategy is led by “Zionist and neo-con lobbies”. Last July, Ms Bouattia drew further condemnation when she used her casting vote to strip Jewish students of their ability to elect their own representative.

On 18th June, the Metropolitan Police Service permitted supporters of Hizballah to march through the streets of our capital. Today, we have learned that the government intends to allow its own conference centre opposite Parliament to be used for this troubling event. It is impossible to square these decisions with the government’s promises to the Jewish community.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan​ grew angry and lost his temper during Thursday’s session of Mayor’s Question Time at the London Assembly. One by one, Assembly Members David Kurten of UKIP, Andrew Dismore of Labour, and Andrew Boff of the Conservatives asked the Mayor whether he would join calls for the Home Secretary to proscribe the whole of Hizballah under the Terrorism Act 2000. Hizballah seeks the annihilation of all Jews worldwide and has committed acts of terror from Bangkok to Buenos Aires to Burgas, yet hundreds of its supporters were permitted to march through central London last Sunday for the annual “Al Quds Day” pro-Hizballah show of force.

Whilst the British government has proscribed the “military wing” of Hizballah under the Terrorism Act 2000, the “political wing” is not proscribed, something that even Hizballah finds ridiculous. In October 2012, Hizballah Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, said: “We don’t have a military wing and a political one; we don’t have Hizballah on one hand and the resistance party on the other…Every element of Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, are in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has long led calls for Hizballah to be proscribed in its entirety by the Home Secretary, and our lawyers are reviewing evidence from last week’s march.

The Mayor however refused to be pressed on whether he would back such calls with his own letter to the Home Secretary, repeatedly insisting that he needed to see more evidence, and even that the best thing for him to do would be to obtain more funding for the Metropolitan Police Service, despite the police refusing to take any action until the whole of Hizballah is proscribed.

When Assembly Member Andrew Boff demanded clarity on whether the Mayor will write to the Home Secretary, the Mayor lost his temper, refusing to confirm what he would do and instead resorting to astonishing playground taunts.

Every year, at the “Al Quds Day” march through London, supporters of Hizballah, the terrorist organisation which strives for the annihilation of Jews worldwide, fly Hezbollah’s flag.

This year was no different. The flag of Hizballah flew over London as police officers refused to even accept complaints.

Campaign Against Antisemitism began work to try to prevent the flying of the genocidal terrorist organisation’s flag months ago. Metropolitan Police Service officers informally gave us conflicting accounts, telling us that nobody had been arrested at previous Al Quds marches, or that officers had gathered evidence at the marches and then made arrests later. We decided to find out exactly what had happened to people flying the flag of Hizballah, on the record.

On 26th April, our Scrutiny Unit filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, asking: “We would like to know about the Al Quds Day march events on 10th July 2015 and 3rd July 2016. In particular we would like to know whether any arrests were made by the Metropolitan Police Service, whether any of those arrests resulted in charges and whether any arrests were related to offences under s.13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 or any other sections of the various Terrorism Acts. We would be grateful if you could please provide us with the following information, for each of the aforementioned Al Quds Day marches, separately: 1) the total number of arrests recorded; 2) the total number of arrests recorded which resulted in charges; 3) the total number of arrests recorded which were made under s.13 of the Terrorism Act 200; and 4) the total number of arrests recorded which were made under any sections of any of the Terrorism Acts.”

Despite the Freedom of Information Act requiring that the answer be provided within 20 working days, the Metropolitan Police Service has waited until two days after the march, nearly a month late, to tell us that they refuse to answer for “national security” reasons. The police force also claimed that answering would “be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime [or] the apprehension or prosecution of offenders”.

Giving its reasons, the Metropolitan Police Service wrote: “Confirmation or denial of whether or not any arrests were made could lead to the assumption that either policing resources deployed to this event was [sic] insufficient in relation to the number who attended these marches or that police were ever [sic] too lenient or strict with the participants. With regards to the latter, any disclosure of information, if held, which results in heightened tension from participants at a march and cause [sic] an adverse effect on officers [sic] safely policing demonstrations/marches cannot be in the public interest…Whilst not questioning the motives of the applicant to confirm or deny that arrest data were held could be harmful if the number of arrests were deemed to be low over the course of a number of years. [sic] This could lead to those who seek to cause disruption to infiltrate this march in order to further their cause. This could indicate relative vulnerabilities of policing provisions at these marches, which would provide those intent on committing criminal acts at the marches with valuable information as to the level of resistance they might expect to encounter. Individuals or groups could therefore gain an understanding of the capabilities of a Force [sic] so that potential vulnerabilities can be more easily identified.”

Essentially, the Metropolitan Police Service is arguing that telling us whether they arrested people at Al Quds Day marches in 2015 and 2016, and whether those arrests were related to terrorism charges, would expose the United Kingdom to national security threats and might lead to increased scrutiny of the policing of the Al Quds Day marches.

Apparently the Metropolitan Police Service does not consider allowing hundreds of supporters of terrorist group Hizballah to parade through our capital to be in any way prejudicial to “national security”.

Our lawyers have already met to discuss the evidence gathered by the brave volunteers of our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit at the Al Quds Day march on Sunday. We will be taking legal action.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, just as the government has promised a crackdown on extremism and terrorism, the red carpet has been rolled out for hundreds of supporters of Hizballah in central London today.

The brave volunteers of our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit went into the thick of the pro-Hizballah supporters to capture evidence, whilst police officers looked on inertly.

Marchers draped themselves in Hizballah flags bearing a dagger and a raised fist clenching an assault rifle, and organisers handed out flags for those who had not brought their own. The organising charity even distributed placards emblazoned with the slogan: “We are all Hizballah”. As the marchers claimed that Zionists were responsible for ISIS and even the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, the Metropolitan Police Service refused to make arrests or even accept reports of hate crimes when approached by members of the public, with one Inspector even claiming that Hizballah flags belong to a legitimate “state” instead of a terrorist organisation. Terrifyingly, demonstrators even attached Hizballah flags to children whilst police looked on.

However, supporters of Hizballah did not have the streets to themselves. As they marched down iconic Regent Street, their path was blocked by anti-terrorist protesters chanting “Terrorists” and playing Jewish music (they had come prepared with a saxophonist). The police however suddenly spurred into action, with vans of officers arriving within seconds to start demanding that the anti-terrorist protesters move out of the way, with reports of pushing and shoving.

The brazen display of support for a genocidal antisemitic terrorist group was met with inaction, but opposition by members of the public was swiftly rounded upon.

Outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, marchers were addressed by figures including Mick Napier, Chair of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who was convicted in March of aggravated trespass over allegations of intimidating bank staff at a demonstration against investment by Barclays Bank in an Israeli company. Campaign Against Antisemitism will analyse the excitable speeches.

A counterdemonstration was held by Jewish and Zionist organisations in Grosvenor Square.

The procession was mostly the work of a registered charity known as the “Islamic Human Rights Commission”, which issued guidance to participants in the procession telling them that “you can bring a Hizballah flag to show support for the political wing of Hizballah.” They also issued a press release stating that the “carrying of flags of Hizballah and other flags at the demonstration is not antisemitic.”

Whilst the British government has proscribed the “military wing” of Hizballah under the Terrorism Act 2000, the “political wing” is not proscribed, something that even Hizballah finds ridiculous. In October 2012, Hizballah Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, said: “We don’t have a military wing and a political one; we don’t have Hizballah on one hand and the resistance party on the other…Every element of Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, are in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority.” Hizballah’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, who is the leader of any fictitious “wing” of Hizballah that the government may wish to imagine, said: “If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”

Before the march, lawyers for Campaign Against Antisemitism had challenged the police to use their powers under section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 to impose a condition on the procession simply so that marchers were in no doubt that they cannot show the emblem of Hizballah. The Metropolitan Police Service refused our request.

Hizballah is clear that it seeks the genocide of Jews worldwide, committing terrorist atrocities from Bangkok to Buenos Aires to Burgas. As Britain mourns those we have so recently lost to Islamist terrorism, the Metropolitan Police Service and Charity Commission permitted Hizballah supporters to mount a show of force through the heart of London. This is the reality of the supposed crackdown on extremism and terrorism. Since the authorities intend to take no action, it now falls to us to ensure that there are consequences for those who organised a pro-terrorist show of strength through the heart of London today. We will also be reviewing our legal options for holding the authorities to account over their utterly despicable failure to act.

Supporters of genocidal antisemitic terrorist group Hizballah are set to mount a show of strength through London’s main shopping streets on Sunday as part of a procession which police expect to number 1,000 people. Campaign Against Antisemitism has met with the Metropolitan Police Service, but we were told that the march will go ahead and those flying Hizballah flags will be protected by police officers.

The flag of Hizballah distinctively bears the words “Party of Allah” in Arabic, along with a dagger and a raised fist clenching an assault rifle. Last year, marchers draped themselves and their children in the Hizballah flag and also carried professionally-made placards declaring: “We are all Hizballah”. Hizballah is a terrorist organisation which advocates the annihilation of Jews worldwide. It has targeted Jews for murder around the globe from Bangkok to Buenos Aires to Burgas. It has wrought acts of barbaric murder all over the world over the course of decades, leaving a death toll in the thousands through aeroplane hijackings to war crimes in Syria to suicide bombings to launching missiles into towns.

Yet as Britain mourns those so recently slaughtered in terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, instead of confronting the pro-Hizballah marchers, the Metropolitan Police Service is proposing to close parts of Regent Street, Oxford Street, Bond Street and Grosvenor Square, bringing central London to a halt so that Hizballah-supporters may march through the heart of the capital.

Marchers will be addressed by figures including Baroness Tonge, who was suspended by the Liberal Democrats and later resigned amidst accusations of antisemitism, and Mick Napier, chair of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign who was convicted of aggravated trespass over allegations of intimidating bank staff at a demonstration against investment by Barclays Bank in an Israeli company.

The procession is mostly the work of a registered charity known as “Islamic Human Rights Commission”, which has issued guidance to participants in the procession telling them that “you can bring a Hizballah flag to show support for the political wing of Hizballah”. It is hard to see how organising a procession in which support for Hizballah is permitted can be considered to be a charitable activity. Despite receiving a complaint from us about last year’s procession, the Charity Commission has still yet to open a statutory inquiry into Islamic Human Rights Commission which is the only way it can invoke the counter-extremism powers it requested and received from Parliament.

Whilst the British government has proscribed the “military wing” of Hizballah under the Terrorism Act 2000, the “political wing” is not proscribed, something that even Hizballah finds ridiculous. In October 2012, Hizballah Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, said: “We don’t have a military wing and a political one; we don’t have Hizballah on one hand and the resistance party on the other…Every element of Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, are in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority.” Hizballah’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, who is the leader of any fictitious “wing” of Hizballah that the government may wish to imagine, said: “If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”

Section 13 of the Terrorism Act is clear that “A person in a public place commits an offence if he wears an item of clothing, or wears, carries or displays an article, in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation”. Ignoring the broad scope of the legislation, which is intended precisely to stop public displays of support for terrorists, the Metropolitan Police Service interprets the law such that if someone carries a Hizballah flag, police officers should presume that the person is supporting Hizballah’s political activity and not any of Hizballah’s terrorist atrocities. In doing so, the Metropolitan Police Service is effectively deciding to tolerate the display of a flag of a proscribed terrorist organisation. Police forces have no power to decide not to enforce certain offences. If marchers choose to wave a flag that is shared with a proscribed organisation, then they assume the risk that they will “arouse reasonable suspicion that [they are a] supporter of a proscribed organisation”, which is a criminal offence.

Therefore, when Campaign Against Antisemitism met the Metropolitan Police Service at a meeting facilitated by Sophie Linden, the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, we asked the police to use their powers under section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 to impose a condition on the procession simply so that marchers are in no doubt that they cannot show the emblem of Hizballah.

The Metropolitan Police Service refused our request. Our able pro bono legal counsel has now submitted representations to the Metropolitan Police Service.

Essentially, Hizballah supporters will be able to brazenly parade through the major streets of our capital unless one of the following happens:

The Metropolitan Police Service overturns its perverse interpretation of the Terrorism Act 2000 and imposes a condition on the procession under the Public Order Act 1986 so that support for Hizballah cannot be shown;

The Charity Commission asks Islamic Human Rights Council to instruct its stewards not to permit participation in the procession by anybody showing support for Hizballah; or

The Home Secretary proscribes Hizballah in its entirety under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has made representations to the Metropolitan Police Service, the Charity Commission and the Home Office.

On Sunday, our Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit will attend the procession to gather evidence, which will be reviewed by our Crime Unit and Regulatory Enforcement Unit. If you are free from 14:00 in central London on Sunday and would like to help, please e-mail mobilisation@antisemitism.uk urgently. Alternatively, if you cannot help us this Sunday but would like to help us long-term, please volunteer or donate.

Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Hizballah is clear that it seeks the genocide of Jews worldwide, committing terrorist atrocities from Bangkok to Buenos Aires to Burgas. As Britain mourns those we have so recently lost to Islamist terrorism, the Metropolitan Police Service and Charity Commission intend to permit Hizballah supporters to mount a show of force through the heart of London. This is the reality of the supposed crackdown on extremism and terrorism.”

Finally, we would like to note that despite various calls from within the Jewish community for the Mayor of London to take action against this procession, he has no statutory power to do so and criticism of him for failing to exercise a power he does not possess is misplaced. Both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime have been very helpful in facilitating contact with the right people within the Metropolitan Police Service, and we are grateful to them for their efforts. We also wish to thank Andrew Dismore, Member of the London Assembly for Barnet and Camden, who has been extremely supportive of our efforts.

A Jewish couple walking in Hackney at approximately 1:30 this morning was allegedly subjected to vicious antisemitic abuse at the hands of a group of teenagers, two of whom approached them shouting abuse about Jews and swearing. At one point they grabbed the Jewish man’s hat and continued to shout abuse when he asked them to give it back. The couple, who were visiting from abroad, were shaken but unharmed.

Stamford Hill Shomrim followed the teenagers, who were both male and described as “Asian” until police officers arrived to arrest them on Cazenove Road. Shomrim is assisting the victims.

Palestine Expo 2017, with a list of controversial speakers, is being held on 8th and 9th July at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster, opposite the Houses of Parliament. According to the the government’s website, the conference centre “is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government”.

The event is billed as “the biggest social, cultural and entertainment event on Palestine to ever take place in Europe” and is being heavily advertised. According to the Palestine Expo Facebook page on 6th June: “This week over 200 Palestine Expo billboards went up across London Underground platforms.” A closer look, however, has uncovered troubling undertones to what is billed as a cultural event that will give the British and European public a taste of Palestinian food, art, music, entertainment and history.

The organisers of the event are the Leicester-based, Friends of Al-Asqa, which was founded and is chaired by Ismail Patel. At a “Stop the Gaza Massacre” demonstration in London on 10th January 2009, during “Operation Cast Lead”, Mr Patel told a cheering crowd that “Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. The reason that they hate Hamas is because they refuse to be subjugated to be occupied by the Israeli state and we salute Hamas for standing up to Israel.” Hamas is listed by the British government as a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act and advocates the murder of Jews around the world. In 2009, Friends of Al-Aqsa published an opinion article by Palestinian journalist Khalid Amayreh, who claimed that “It is well known that Israel, through the numerous Zionist lobbies or pressure groups, more or less controls America’s politics, media and financial institutions” and that the Iraq war “was conceived in and planned by Israel through the mostly Jewish neocons in Washington.”

We put these matters to Friends of Al-Aqsa and Mr Patel. Friends of Al-Aqsa told us that “We consider antisemitism and any form of racism extremely repugnant”, that Mr Patel’s praise for Hamas was merely “intended to be specific to that time period [during ‘Operation Cast Lead’] while Gaza and its governing body (Hamas) were under sustained military assault”. It also noted that it removed the article by Mr Amayreh from its website and has published articles by a number of Jewish people.

The list of speakers for the Palestine Expo 2017 includes individuals with worrying views.

One speaker, John Pilger, an Australian film-maker, wrote in TheGuardian in 2006 that Hizballah represented “humanity at its noblest”, writing: “The resistance to rapacious power, to epic crimes of invasion (which the Nuremberg judges called the ‘paramount’ crime) is humanity at its noblest; yet the paradox warns us that no resistance is pretty; that each adds its own form of violence in order to expel an invader (such as the civilians killed by Hizbollah rockets); and this has applied to heroic partisans in Europe and heroic Kurds and those faceless, despised Iraqis who have succeeded in pinning down the American homicidal machine in their country.”

Another speaker, Tariq Ramadan, an Egyptian-Swiss academic, was banned from 2004 to 2010 from entering the United States for allegedly supporting a charity that the Bush administration labelled a fundraiser for Hamas (the ban was lifted by the Obama administration). He also reportedly wrote on Facebook in May 2014 that Belgian officials may be part of a conspiracy to falsely present the Brussels Jewish museum shootings as antisemitic. According to The Forward, Professor Ramadan wrote: “The two tourists targeted in Brussels worked for the Israeli secret services”. Claiming that the Belgian government had not commented, Professor Ramadan pondered: “Coincidence. Is this a case of antisemitism or a maneuver to divert attention from the real motives of the executioners? We oppose all slaying of innocents and racism but at the same time, it’s time they stopped taking us for fools.”

A third speaker, Malia Bouattia, is the recently-defeated President of the National Union of Students (NUS), who called Birmingham University a “Zionist outpost in higher education” because it has “the largest Jsoc [Jewish student society] in the country.” She railed against “Zionist-led media outlets”, characterised Palestinian terrorism as “resistance” and voted against condemning ISIS. When called on by Campaign Against Antisemitism and numerous student leaders to retract her comments, she penned an article in TheGuardian claiming that her accusers were simply sexists and racists. Ms Bouattia has since refused to confirm that Israel even has a right to exist, and she told an audience at the School of Oriental and African Studies that the government’s anti-terrorism strategy is led by “Zionist and neo-con lobbies”. Last July, Ms Bouattia drew further condemnation when she used her casting vote to strip Jewish students of their ability to elect their own representative.

It is extremely troubling that this event is being held at an iconic, government-sponsored venue, right opposite the seat of British democracy. We are writing to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government expressing our concerns.

We would like to thank Jewish Human Rights Watch for sharing detailed information about this event with us.

A 16-year-old Jewish boy sitting on a park bench in London was helped by members of the public as teenagers grabbed at his hat and bicycle, threatening to “beat” him.

The incident occurred just before 15:00 today in Springfield Park in Hackney. The Jewish boy was resting on the bench when he was allegedly approached by two younger teenagers aged approximately 14 and described as “Asian”, who grabbed at his bicycle and his hat, which is of the kind traditionally worn by charedi (orthodox) Jews. When the Jewish boy asked them to stop, he said that they threatened to “beat” him.

Members of the public came to the boy’s defence and the Metropolitan Police Service and Stamford Hill Shomrim were called to the scene. The boy told them that he was convinced that the teenagers targeted him because he was Jewish, which means that under the so-called ‘MacPherson Principle’ it must be recorded and investigated as an antisemitic hate crime.

We are grateful to the passersby who came to the boy’s assistance. It appears that recognisably Jewish schoolchildren are increasingly being targeted, including by other children, and we expect that the Metropolitan Police Service will investigate this matter as an antisemitic hate crime.

Thanks to members of public who came to the rescue of a young Jewish boy in Springfield Park who was unprovokedly threatened to be beaten up pic.twitter.com/bN4KebXTau

Police in Manchester have appealed for witnesses following two arson attacks on kosher restaurants earlier this week, which are being investigated as antisemitic hate crimes.

According to a statement from Greater Manchester Police (GMP): “The first incident happened at Ta’am Restaurant on Bury New Road shortly before midnight on Friday 2nd June 2017 when two offenders approached and threw a milk carton filled with petrol and a lit rag at the premises. The makeshift petrol container failed to ignite before one of the offenders threw a large stone at the front window, smashing it in the process.

“The second [incident] happened at around 3:30am on Tuesday 6th June, when the offenders approached JS Restaurant on Kings Road and forced open a window before pouring accelerant inside and lighting it. The fire service was called and was able to put the fire out before any serious damage could be done to the property On both occasions the restaurants were closed and noone was injured in either of the attacks.”

According to the statement from GMP, “Police in Bury have launched an investigation and detectives believe the attacks are linked and are treating them as antisemitic hate crimes; however, the motive for the attacks is not clear.”

Detective Chief Inspector Charlotte Cadden of GMP’s Bury Borough said: “Our investigation is progressing and we have now released images of two people we want to speak to in connection with the arson attacks. From the images it isn’t clear how old they are but we believe they are two males and I’m hoping that they jog someone’s memory or that someone recognises the clothes they were wearing.

“We are also appealing to a woman to come forward as a potential witness. She has shoulder length brown hair and carrying a bag or possibly a parcel under her right arm, was walking near to the Mountheath Industrial estate a few minutes before the attack at Ta’am restaurant. She may be able to help us and I would ask that if you are her, you contact us.”

Police have asked anyone with information to contact them on 101 quoting incident number 206 06/06/17 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is monitoring developments closely and we are pleased that the police are taking these incidents seriously and putting the necessary resources into the investigation.

Newly re-elected Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has demanded a “truly independent” inquiry into the Labour Party’s antisemitism problem when Parliament reconvenes. She also said that she wants Ken Livingstone to be expelled from the Party over his comments that “Hitler was supporting Zionism”.

The Labour Party held an infamous whitewash internal review into antisemitism in the Party which concluded that the Party did not have a major problem. The report’s author, Shami Chakrabarti, was elevated to the peerage following the publication of her report (she remains the only peer ever nominated by Jeremy Corbyn). The fiasco led one of Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Honorary Patrons, Lord Mitchell, to resign from the Labour Party, telling a television audience that Mr Corbyn had failed to tackle antisemitism in the Party and had surrounded himself with people who are hostile to Jews. The Party’s abject failure to deal firmly with antisemitism in its midst was exemplified by the decision merely to partially suspend veteran Labour figure Ken Livingstone, instead of expelling him from the Party. We called the decision “the Labour Party’s final brazen act of betrayal”.

Ms Siddiq toldJewish News: “I grew up in Hampstead around the Jewish community. They felt the Labour Party was their natural home. Now, people say to me they feel like they don’t belong anymore and that they’re not welcome. I think there are certain elements of antisemitism in the Party that have not been dealt with properly. I am determined that MPs like me, Wes Streeting and Joan Ryan will stand up and say, to borrow from Theresa May, ‘enough is enough’. We can’t go on like this this while the community feels so disenfranchised and disillusioned.”

We endorse Ms Siddiq’s request for a transparent, genuinely independent inquiry into antisemitism within the Labour Party, which should scrutinise the manner in which individual cases have been handled and failures of leadership. We also call on the Labour Party to adopt our manifesto for fighting antisemitism in political parties.

A woman outside a Borehamwood polling station has been filmed chanting: “Vote Labour, let’s get the Jews out” as voters simply walk past her. The video has not been released publicly.

Michelle Vince, the leader of the local Hertsmere Labour Group, has made a complaint to the police. She told the Borehamwood Times: “We are horrified and shocked that antisemitic behaviour has occurred outside of a polling station in Hertsmere. This is not a vote that we want. We are asking to see images of the person and if they are a member of the Party they will be expelled. We are asking for this to be investigated and we will always challenge this behaviour as racism of any form cannot be tolerated.”

It has been discovered that Philip Rose, the UKIP parliamentary candidate for Amber Valley, in Derbyshire, in the general election that has just closed, has tweeted the views of David Icke, and his theories about what he calls “Rothschild Zionism”. Mr Icke claims that a secret cabal of “Rothschild Zionists” has subverted democracy and secretly runs the world, writing in his book: “I strongly believe that a small Jewish clique which has contempt for the mass of Jewish people worked with non-Jews to create the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the Second World War. This Jewish elite used the First World War to secure the Balfour Declaration and the principle of the Jewish State of Israel (for which, given the genetic history of most Jewish people, there is absolutely no justification on historical grounds or any other).”

Mr Rose has repeatedly voiced his support for Mr Icke’s various theories on Twitter and Facebook, including claiming that: “Fabians a part of the elite communitarian agenda – Rothschild-Zionist clean sweep. Perhaps real division = liberty or [New World Order]?”

It is disturbing that UKIP should have selected a parliamentary candidate who subscribes to antisemitic conspiracy myths. Recently we discovered that another UKIP candidate, Captain Paddy Singh had tweeted: “At times I ask myself were the Nazis right in herding the Jews into concentration camps”.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.

Campaign Against Antisemitism put it to Mr Rose that he believes antisemitic conspiracy myths, however Mr Rose decried Campaign Against Antisemitism as the real racists, pointing out that his father’s mother was Jewish and that not all Zionists are Jews, so “Rothschild Zionists” is not a racial term. He added: “I am not familiar with the ‘International Definition of Antisemitism’ but from what you write it looks like a catch-all for anyone who may question anything about Jewish people or institutions.”

A man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill a Jewish man at a polling station at approximate 17:20 today.

A Jewish man arriving at a polling station on the Webb Estate near Clapton Common in north London allegedly heard a man shouting from a window above: “F***ing Jews, kill all the Jews. What are you doing here?”. The Jewish man entered the polling station, cast his vote and then asked to be escorted away from the polling station by one of the volunteers there. As he left, the suspect allegedly started shouting antisemitic abuse again, at which point the Jewish victim called Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

Shomrim attended within minutes and called the police. Whilst waiting for the police to arrive, the suspect allegedly threatened Shomrim volunteers with a crowbar, but they stood their ground until police arrived to make an arrest.

We applaud Shomrim for their swift reaction and for their bravery, which has made this arrest possible.

Jewish activists from Sussex Friends of Israel were told by members of the public in Brighton at the weekend that the “gas chambers in Auschwitz were mock-ups like Disneyland” and that Jews were responsible for the African slave trade.

The exchanges were captured on video and posted to Facebook.

One unidentified man in a grey shirt and green jacket went on a tirade for more than three minutes, during which he made a series of highly offensive, conspiracy-laden antisemitic comments. He described himself as a “Holocaust revisionist not a denier” and said that “nothing like six million died” during the Holocaust and that the figure was just an “interpretation.” He told the Jewish activists that the “gas chambers in Auschwitz were mock ups like Disneyland.” The International Definition of Antisemitism states that “Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust)” is antisemitic.

Another unidentified man in a pink shirt claimed that Jews were responsible for the slave trade that funded the “imperial wealth of Europe.” The accusation is antisemitic under the International Definition of Antisemitism which states that “charg[ing] Jews with conspiring to harm humanity” and “Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews” is antisemitic.

We commend Sussex Friends of Israel for exposing and challenging these unashamed antisemites and their repulsive views.

A man has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act in Stamford Hill after allegedly chasing Jewish pedestrians, shouting: “Allah, Allah, I’m going to kill you all” as people fled before him. He was followed by Stamford Hill Shomrim, a Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, until the Metropolitan Police Service arrived and sectioned him.

Michael Scher from Stamford Hill Shomrim said: “The man was shouting threats, with members of the public rushing away from him, fearing for their immediate safety. Thankfully police were able to detain him, and prevent further incident.”

This was an extremely alarming incident for Jewish pedestrians in the area innocently going about their business. We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim for once again rushing to defend the Jewish community.

A report by the Global Muslim Brotherhood Research Center has revealed that Dr Al-Fulaij, a Kuwaiti national who served as a trustee and director of a major new mosque in Sheffield, wrote several antisemitic articles in Kuwaiti newspapers and posted a video on Twitter which claimed that Jews had subverted American media and politics.

Dr Al-Fulaij, who is listed as a director and trustee of the Emaan Trust, which is building the mosque, claimed in the video from 2012: “No candidate or politician can ever hope to be elected without the obligatory visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Israel, whilst being forced to wear that mind-numbing yarmulke [Jewish skullcap].”

More recently, Dr Al-Fulaij repeated the claim in an article , writing an article for Kuwait’s Al Anba newspaper, entitled: “The spread of Jews in the world.” In the article, he opined that “the Jewish people are the ones controlling the world. This was done with great subtlety, planning, deceit, conspiracy, extortion, women, money, riba [usury] and organised crime and mafia.”

Dr Al-Fulaij has also claimed that recent terrorist attacks in Europe were “a work of the Zionist intelligence” and he has also proposed that “the international Zionists and Mossad were behind the September 11 attacks in the US.”

The Emaan Trust toldThe Daily Telegraph that they had “by mutual agreement, agreed that Dr Al-Fulaij will cease to be a director and trustee” because “Dr Al-Fulaij’s personal views are incompatible with the workings and objectives of the Emaan Trust, and in particular in serving the wider community in Sheffield.”

Labour member Phillip Jones has reportedly been suspended by the Labour Party pending investigation over a tweet in which he allegedly demanded to know whether a BBC interviewer was a “Zionist”.

BBC journalist Emma Barnett had just interviewed Jeremy Corbyn on Woman’s Hour, during which she repeatedly asked him to give the costs of the Labour Party’s childcare pledge. Mr Corbyn was pilloried for his performance, leading various Twitter users, including antisemites whom we have been aware of for some time, to claim that Ms Barnett had deliberately tripped Mr Corbyn up because she is a “Zionist”.

The “Labour Insider” Twitter account allegedly used by Mr Jones demanded more information, asking: “Allegations have surfaced that @EmmaBarnett is a Zionist. Are the allegations true Emma?”

According to The Times, Mr Jones insisted he did not personally post the offending tweet but he has been suspended pending investigation.

Mr Jones has not yet responded to Campaign Against Antisemitism, and when we tweeted the “Labour Insider” account, we were blocked within minutes.

A giant banner depicting Theresa May with star of David earrings has been taken down by Bristol City Council. The banner was found around Bristol’s Bear Pit and featured Jeremy Corbyn as Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars films, whilst Theresa May was shown wearing star of David earrings alongside the caption “For a few”.

Local residents contacted Campaign Against Antisemitism, the local council and the police, leading to the removal of the banner by the Council. We understand that a police investigation has now been opened.

Nima Masterson, one of the people who reportedly put up the banner, told the Bristol Post: “It’s not meant to be that at all. It’s a tiny element of the whole banner. What we are doing with that symbol — it’s an earring — is a reference to Theresa May’s government’s relationship with Israel. It is a critique of her foreign policy, rather than against religion. This is about foreign policy.”

The poster uses the emblem of the Jewish religion in a way that can be interpreted to infer that Theresa May is under the control of Jews, which draws on antisemitic conspiracy myths. Of course those responsible for the poster may say that they meant nothing of that nature and intended only to criticise Israel. If that is the case then they should have found a less offensive way of doing so. It is outrageous that the banner was allowed to be put up and we are pleased that those behind it have recognised that it should be removed.

JS Restaurant, the oldest kosher restaurant in Manchester has been gutted by fire following a suspected arson attack overnight at approximately 4:00.

Two days ago, Ta’am, another kosher restaurant in the city, was firebombed for the second time, and CCTV captured images of two youths conducting the attack. Last year the same restaurant was also set alight.

The fire at JS restaurant was brought under control after an hour and fifteen minutes by three fire engines, but the restaurant’s ground floor was completely wrecked. The firebomb attack against Ta’am was apparently unsuccessful.

Anybody with information on either attack should contact Greater Manchester Police on 101.

Jewish people and their property are increasingly being sought out by antisemites. It is imperative that perpetrators are brought to justice, and that police, prosecutors and the judiciary treat antisemitism with the utmost severity.

A Jewish man has been left shaken after a Metropolitan Police Service operator graded an ongoing antisemitic attack as a “low priority” because he did not speak Arabic.

The man was running in Finsbury Park at approximately 6:00 this morning when another man described only as having “dark skin” allegedly started shouting at him aggressively in Arabic. The victim asked the man who had shouted what he was saying, to which he reportedly responded “I was saying ‘Good morning’ in Arabic.”

Shortly afterwards, as the Jewish man continued to run, he allegedly saw the same man running towards him, shouting wildly in Arabic. The Jewish man ran towards his car with aggressor in pursuit. He drove a short way up the road and called 999, asking that police come immediately as the suspect was still in the area.

According to Stamford Hill Shomrim, which is assisting the victim, he was told by the police operator that they were giving the incident a “low priority” grading because the victim could not understand Arabic and therefore could not confirm that the abuse was antisemitic in nature. The victim pointed out that he was recognisable as Jewish from his clothing, and that the suspect had not shouted at anybody else, but this was not good enough for the police operator.

The Jewish man waited in his car until he saw the suspect running towards him again, at which point he drove away.

Having spent years exercising in Finsbury Park, the victim no longer feels that it is safe to go there as he expects that he might come across the suspect again, and if he is attacked, he cannot rely on the Metropolitan Police Service to defend him.

This is the third recent report we have received of police officers not being deployed immediately to an ongoing antisemitic attack. Yesterday we learned the the Metropolitan Police Service had failed to send officers to the aid of a 16-year-old Jewish girl who was covered in blood by attackers whom she bravely stood up to, and Kent Police failed to deploy to assist a young Jewish family under attack from a gang of youths hurling stones.

We are increasingly alarmed by police failures to come to the defence of Jews during antisemitic attacks. This incident should have resulted in police officers attending within no more than eight minutes, and the failure of the Metropolitan Police Service to deploy immediately must be investigated thoroughly and transparently. Campaign Against Antisemitism will now be adding this complaint to our letter to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, requesting a full investigation of the decisions not to respond at all or immediately to these incidents.

It has emerged that a 16-year-old Jewish girl was kicked and punched in the face during an antisemitic assault in Stoneyfields Park in Edgware, and was left bleeding in the care of an off-duty Royal Mail worker for two hours after the Metropolitan Police Service failed to send officers to her aid.

Alexander Goldberg, a barrister and police chaplain, wrote about the alleged incident on Facebook. According to his account of the incident, his daughter Hannah was sitting in the park with two friends during the Jewish sabbath on 27th May, when a group of five teenagers who had been playing on a basketball court decided to leave the court and play “in and around” the three Jewish girls, who were all wearing traditional long skirts. The teenagers then allegedly verbally abused the girls, culminating in one of them telling Hannah: “Hitler should have killed all you Jews when he had the chance…you should have all been gassed.” Remarkably, according to her father Hannah stood up to the teenagers, some of whom were black, and told them that the Nazis would have murdered them too, to which one of the teenagers answered that “Jews are the worst” and continued to swear at the girls.

Hannah asked her friends if they could leave, and as they left one of the teenagers allegedly threw a basketball in Hannah’s face, causing her nose to bleed. She asked them why he was doing this, but he allegedly responded by kicking her in the chest whilst another teenager punched her twice in the face.

The girls found an off-duty Royal Mail employee who twice called 999 whilst the girls waited, with Hannah covered in blood. After waiting for hours, during which some of the assailants remained in the area, the girls went home. The Metropolitan Police Service did not attend.

When contacted by Hannah’s father, the Metropolitan Police Service failed to investigate their decision not to deploy officers, however it agreed to open an investigation when he contacted Stamford Hill Shomrim, which interceded with the police.

We are appalled by the lack of a police response to a violent antisemitic assault on Jewish children. This incident should have resulted in police officers attending within no more than eight minutes, and the failure of the Metropolitan Police Service to deploy must be investigated thoroughly and transparently. Campaign Against Antisemitism is writing to the Commissioner.

It is the second recent example of police failing to attend an antisemitic attack after Kent Police declined to come to the aid of a young Jewish family which was attacked by a gang hurling stones at them.

Labour candidate for Bradford West, Naz Shah, was shouted at during a hustings in Bradford. When berated by a member of the audience for being a “Zionist”, Ms Shah confirmed that she believed that Israel has a right to exist, to which an audience member should “Jew, Jew, Jew!”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitismadopted by the British government “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” is antisemitic.

Social media posts from 2014 by Ms Shah led to her being suspended from the Labour Party in May last year. She had suggested that the Jewish state should be “relocated” to America, suggesting that she would “tweet Barack Obama and David Cameron and put this idea to them”. She also tweeted an image with the quote “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal” and added “#ApartheidIsrael”. In August 2014 Ms Shah tweeted a link to an article claiming that Zionism used “religious symbolism…to groom other modernised men and women of Jewish descent to exert political influence at the highest levels of public office by using the guilt of the pogroms and offered a solution to the ‘Jewish Question’ in Europe.” In July 2014, she posted a link on Facebook to a newspaper poll asking whether Israel had committed war crimes in Gaza, commenting: “The Jews are rallying to the poll.” When the posts were discovered, Ms Shah apologised for them and was subsequently readmitted to the Party.

The Conservative candidate for South East Cornwall, Sheryll Murray, has said that she was “sickened” after swastikas were carved into one of her election posters.

Mrs Murray told Jewish News: “I am sickened by this attack on my posters which was signed with a swastika. This symbol is incredibly offensive to both Jews who lost so many and the British who stood firm against its tyranny.” Mrs Murray’s election agent, Bob Davidson, added: “This is clearly an attack from a group who despise Sheryll’s longstanding support for the Jewish community. The posters were cut with a sharp implement so clearly they went prepared with something that could also be used as a weapon.”

Mrs Murray is a supporter of Holocaust Memorial Day and has visited the Auschwitz concentration camp. She is also a member of Conservative Friends of Israel.

Terror suspect Aweys Faqey, who was arrested at Stansted Airport on Tuesday last week, is accused of discussing plans to procure automatic weapons and kill Jews in Stamford Hill.

Mr Faqey, a Dutch national aged 37, was charged with preparing acts of terrorism and appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this Tuesday. It is alleged that he obtained or applied for cash loans and bought tickets to fly to Turkey. Mr Faqey was arrested trying to board a flight to Istanbul, allegedly carrying four mobile phones and $700 and €400 in cash.

The court was told that Mr Faqey was interviewed for five days by police, but replied “No comment” to all questions. Prosecutor Thomas Halpin told the court: “The investigation came alive during the search of a laptop in another terrorist investigation and the communication between the defendant and Abdirahman Hassan transpired. He is a Kenyan man who is currently in custody in Kenya awaiting trial for terrorist offences. In essence, the communication between both men was that the defendant expressed a desire to go to Syria and fight jihad.”

Online chat logs were read out in court, with one message allegedly saying: “It could have been better if AK47, M16 and BKM can be found. They could have been taken to Stamford Hill and people leave from the game. On Saturday a lot of Jews gather over there. It is an area of the UK where they are a majority, it’s full of people.”

According to The Times, Mr Faqey has been living in Tottenham since 2013, was born in Somalia and has a wife and five children in the Netherlands and another wife and child in Kenya.

Mr Faqey was remanded in custody until his next court appearance at the Old Bailey on 9th June.

Stamford Hill Shomrim are in touch with the Metropolitan Police Service and have urged the local community to be vigilant and report anything suspicious.

Kent Police has arrested two males aged 16 and 18 following an outcry over their failure to deploy officers when a young Jewish family enjoying the seaside at Minster beach on the Isle of Sheppey was allegedly attacked on Sunday by a gang of youths shouting “Jews” and hurling stones. The family called the police, but were told that officers would not be attending.

In a statement, Kent Police said: “The 18-year-old man and 16-year-old boy were arrested on 30th May on suspicion of committing a racially aggravated public order offence and have been released pending further enquiries.” The arrests were made using footage captured on a smartphone by a member of the family during the attack.

The family of two parents and their five children aged 8 to 15, had been playing on the beach when two boys and three girls aged 16 to 18 allegedly ran towards them, hurling stones. As the attack continued and the parents tried to shelter their children, the family called Kent Police, but the emergency operator advised them that no officers would be dispatched, despite the assailants remaining at the scene. Instead, they were told that an officer would contact them the following week to “investigate”.

The family cut short their holiday and returned home to London, where they received support from Stamford Hill Shomrim.

Stamford Hill Shomrim and Campaign Against Antisemitism then drew attention to the incident, sparking an outcry. Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott, released a statement criticising the police force and demanding a review. He said: “I am sorry and saddened that an alleged hate crime against a family visiting Minster-on-Sea took place on Sunday afternoon in our county, and that concerns have been raised about the way in which the matter has been handled by Kent Police. Part of my role as Police and Crime Commissioner is to hold Kent Police to account, so I have met with the Assistant Chief Constable and the Director of Corporate Services to discuss the case. Kent Police has already reviewed the case, met with the victim, and made two arrests. The investigation remains ongoing. I have asked for the reasons behind the decision not to attend to be investigated – under the police’s threat, harm and risk criteria – and for consideration to be given for the call handing to be independently reviewed.”

We welcome the intervention of the Police and Crime Commissioner. The failure of Kent Police to attend the scene of an active antisemitic attack is appalling and must be investigated thoroughly. Normally, police officers should be deployed to an ongoing incident or an incident where suspects remain on the scene. After years of police failing to charge antisemites, and the Crown Prosecution Service failing to charge them, this news of a police force refusing to come to the aid of a young Jewish family under attack is extremely alarming. We are pleased that Kent Police are now working hard to identify additional suspects, though it should never have been necessary for them to be pressured to do so.

We are following the case with interest. Anyone with information about the incident can call Kent Police on 01795 419 119, quoting reference 28-0929.

The Romanian government has decided to formally adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism. The definition is clear and detailed, leaving no doubt as to what antisemitism is. In particular, the definition tackles the full spectrum of antisemitism, from ancient slurs to conspiracy myths to antisemitism in discourse about Israel.

Romania’s Ministry of Justice will now consult the Ministry of Internal Affairs and law enforcement agencies, before proposing reforms which will incorporate the definition into Romanian law. The definition will be used to train law enforcement officers and will also be incorporated into the national curriculum in schools.

The Romanian government described the move as an “expression of Romania’s resolute action against antisemitism, extremism, racism and all forms of discrimination and intolerance”, saying that the country “will gain an efficient instrument for better defining antisemitic actions and for better understanding the consequences deriving from these”.

Britain was the first country to adopt the definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Sir Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings. Austria became the next national government to adopt the definition, and now the Romanian government has done the same.

MEPs spoke to condemn rising antisemitism, demanding that member states cooperate to prosecute antisemitic hate crime, gather more accurate data on hate crime and its causes, “take expeditious action to prevent and combat antisemitic hate speech online” and “promote the teaching of the Holocaust”. The MEPs voted to ask the “[European] Commission and the Member States to increase financial support for targeted activities and educational projects against discrimination and hate crimes, to build up and strengthen partnerships with European Jewish communities, institutions and civil society organisations, and to encourage exchanges between children and young people of different faiths via joint activities, launching and supporting awareness-raising campaigns in that regard.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism strongly welcomes the European Parliament’s endorsement of the definition which is clear and detailed, leaving no doubt as to what antisemitism is. In particular, the definition tackles the full spectrum of antisemitism, from ancient slurs to conspiracy myths to antisemitism in discourse about Israel.

The International Definition of Antisemitism is already used around the world, but only recently have national governments begun to formally adopt it. Britain was the first country to adopt the definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Sir Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings. Austria became the next national government to adopt the definition, and now the Romanian government has followed.

The University and College Union (UCU) has concluded its annual congress by voting to reject the International Definition of Antisemitism. The definition, which was adopted by the British government following a long campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others, notably Sir Eric Pickles, has been widely endorsed. The National Union of Students (NUS) reaffirmed its support for the definition earlier this month. A recent NUS survey showed that 26% of Jewish students said that they were either “fairly worried” or “very worried” about suffering a physical attack, property damage, verbal abuse or theft because they are Jewish.

Now, the UCU has put itself at odds with NUS, which first adopted the definition in 2007. The UCU, which is the largest higher education union in the world, representing almost 120,000 university academics around the United Kingdom, adopted a resolution stating “that this definition conflates antisemitism with criticism of the State of Israel and has been used to intimidate academics who are engaged in activities that are critical of the policies of the Israeli government but that are not antisemitic.”

The definition could not be clearer that criticism of Israel is not antisemitic, and even contains a passage explicitly stating that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”. What the definition does consider to be antisemitic is calling Jews or the Jewish state the successor to the Nazis. That is not criticism, it is hate speech. The definition equally identifies as antisemites those who engage in spreading conspiracy myths about Jewish subterfuge and nefarious power.

The resolution commits UCU to actively lobby against the definition and to “make no use of it (e.g. in educating members or dealing with internal complaints).”

The UCU is now institutionally committed to opposing the only definition of antisemitism used around the world, including by the European Parliament, the UK College of Policing, the US Department of State, and the 31 countries comprising the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. It is a disgraceful act by the UCU, but it is sadly not a surprise: the UCU voted to reject the definition before, in 2011.

Abderahman Forjani, a cousin of the Manchester terrorist, Salman Abedi, reportedly posted an antisemitic tweet appearing to celebrate the Holocaust.

The Timesuncovered a tweet allegedly posted by Forjani stating that “If only Hitler was still alive — these Jews would be burned in gas chambers.” His account has since been deleted. Forjani, 21, was reportedly arrested after the suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena that killed 22 people and injured around 120.

Antisemitism is often the gateway to extremism and those who espouse it must be held to account.

Following the terrorist attack, social media erupted in condemnation of the attack as a Jewish conspiracy, and two Muslim leaders from Manchester who were presented as voices of coexistence following the attack were revealed to have sent antisemitic tweets.

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Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.